Labyrinth Ch 2: Prodigal
by Cosmina Inspira
Summary: AJ has disappeared and sets out on a final thrill to rob Xanatos' charity event, which Talon fears will endanger the Labyrinth. He enlists the help of his former commanding officer, Captain Maria Chavez, and it all leads to unexpected revelations, including AJ's true parentage.
1. Chapter 1

Labyrinth

Chapter 2: Prodigal

By Inspiration!

Disclaimer: The Gargoyles animated series, including the Goliath Chronicles, is the property of the Walt Disney Company and its affiliate Buena Vista. The Characters of the Gargoyles Saga are the creations of TGS staff and are used on the condition of creative acknowledgement. The mentioned character Radar is originally from TGC episode _Runaways_. The actors' voices for my characters are not associated with me nor the original show and are only people I hear for my characters, like Greg Weisman did for the original show. No infringement is intended here nor authorized by the copyholders, this author only writes fan fiction for fun and entertainment for the love of this wonderful series. All original characters are the property of the fan fiction author Inspiration!

Author's note: This is part 2 of the spin off series. This story begins were _What Lies Beneath_ left off and takes place one night after the events of _We Live Again: 11. Wisdom_, and before _12. Bronx's Rumble in the Bronx_. For the character AJ, hear the voice of Ashton Kutcher.

****Previously on Labyrinth. . .

A place once used for scientific research by a sci-fi sounding company called Cyberbiotics had been abandoned for reasons AJ did not know nor cared about and had become grungy and uninhabitable. Now the place had undergone a major face lift within just a few years, and even allowed the cat people a sense of home comfort in a place they called the 'Sanctuary.'

Yet despite at seeing all of this, AJ felt greatly out of place.

"I wouldn't exactly say that everything down here is 'normal,' considering some of the residents and the company they keep." AJ

"You can say whatever you want about me and the Labyrinth, kid, it's a free country and you're free to express your opinion. But disrespect of any kind towards me or any of the residents has limited tolerance down here. Mind what you say to others, or that mouth of yours will get you into real trouble." Talon

"Yeah, you say that I'm free to say whatever I want, Cat Man, but not whatever I want to *do*, since being dropped in this dump all you've tried to do is tell me what I can and can't do and I'm sick of it. You say I'm free to be myself down here, but all you've done is tried to put me down." AJ

"If you don't like it here, you're free to leave. No one will stop you." Talon

"Maybe I'll do just that," AJ shot back, "But, I doubt you mean it. Once a cop, always a cop. I don't need this shit, I'm outta here."

On the other side of the Community Room, AJ had found himself nearly ambushed by the green creature with a huge snout called Malibu.

"Say, green bean? How would you like to help me with bringing a little more sophistication to the new Game Room? We can split 50-50, or maybe 70-30." AJ

"My name Malibu. Yes, I help, because being gargoyle and living in Labyrinth mean I and my brothers help people." Malibu

"Great. Good to know you're on board, partner. But, before we get started, tell me about the tan white haired chick like you, is she available?" AJ

"There's more than enough evidence against you, AJ, to show you were behind the larceny and money laundering." Talon

"Get real, panther man, I've gone through worse than that little slap on the wrist. It's not like I can't handle a few days in jail, so go ahead and throw me into the damn clink like you're goin' to anyway. So do your worse, there's nothin' you can do that'll scare me." AJ

"Fine, then, community service it is." Talon

"If you still consider him your friend, Malibu, then do just that, be his friend. He definitely needs one. Spend time with him, talk with him and get to know him, and encourage him to spend time with Delilah and your brothers. Maybe he'll learn that the best way to have a friend is to be a friend." Talon to Malibu

"Fine, Xanatos, I'll play along and see what I can do. But if anything dangerous happens to any of my charges" The panther mutate held up a razor sharp clawed finger to the dark haired industrialist's face right in his line of sight, but Xanatos continued to stand with confident arrogance and didn't even flinch "I will personally hold you responsible, and don't expect money to solve everything because people down here expect more than just financial compensation. I also want to know what this is all really about, because I don't like being kept in the dark and I know there's more to this than what you're telling me." Talon to Xanatos

"For now it's all only on a need to know basis, but I can tell you yes, it's supposed to be a trap as well as a fundraising benefit for the Labyrinth. But the trap is for those who mean to do deception towards my company and the city. But if you're worried I'm not on the up and up, Talon, if it puts your mind at ease Captain Chavez is going to be there, too, if you knowing someone you once trusted will be there to 'keep an eye on me.'" Xanatos

"Anyway, anything you can find out, even if it's just rumor I want to know about immediately." Xanatos

"Yeah, yeah," Talon groaned, "keep my ears to the ground about any criminal threats to your party at the museum."

AJ had run down a dark tunnel he had come to know down here and kept running until he found a man hole he could climb to. He peeked through the open hole in the street and saw he was not far from a part of the city he had known for a long time.

He didn't even bother to replace the manhole cover as he ran down the dark and deserted city street, and didn't even look back.

"Still, Talon, lad, I say ye find AJ soon for he may be a troublesome miscreant but he'd best be safest down here with ye and yer clan, before danger befalls him or he brings it ta ye should he be unwittingly followed," Hudson said.

He did not feel liberated until he begin to walk through more familiar backstreets, an arrogant smile coming to his chiseled face as he then spotted the best thing he had seen in weeks.

"Yeah, dog, where'd ya disappears to? You've been missin' out on some weirdin' out but bitchin' stuff happenins on the street." Greaser

"Really, like what, Dudes?" AJ inquired, his curiosity piqued.

"Like this rad new dope that's goin' around call 'Scura or somethin'. Word on the street is it's not only the best but it gives ya these weird abilities." Buster

Greaser gave a smug smile and just placed a grimy hand upon a nearby wall.

At first nothing happened for a microsecond, but then Greaser's hand suddenly seemed to secrete a slick oily substance as he slipped his hand across the rotten wall, the substance dissolved and ate through the brick like a powerful hydrochloric acid with a low hiss and evaporating wispy tendrils. AJ could only stare on in wide eyed disbelief and dumbfounded as he dropped his still wisping cigarette to the ground, words clearly escaped him.

"The biggest problem right now is we've been forced to pay back Radar with the money we can get, and he's got a ton o' the stuff. So until we've paid him back in full for losin' his so-called precious 'merchandise' we're sunk. It's gonna take a crap load o' money to pay that bastard back and he won't give nothin' to us 'til he gets his money." Travis

"And I still owe that sonovabitch Nielson a butch o' money, too. So we're all in the same boat. So what're we gonna do, guys? There's gotta be a quick way to get cash and out o' the thumbs of those pricks, and I don't wanna owe nobody nothin'." AJ

"I might know a way to solve all our problems. That hidden place I know is owned by that rich dude, Xanatos, and I overheard him talkin' about throwin' a party at a museum, and you can bet your ass a bunch o' the richest and phoniest snobs and higher ups in the city'll be there. We hit them quick and hard and we'd be set for life." AJ

The others agreed as AJ said, "From what I can make out Xanatos' shindig is tomorrow night at the Museum of the City of New York. Damn, there's another problem."

"What?"

"Not only are there gonna be rich people there, I think this says he's gettin' donations from police departments, which means cops bein' there."

"No prob, AJ. It just means we're gonna need some help. Let's go find some more o' our old buds and see if they'd like to crash the party with us. I'm sure they'll want in, and somebody's gotta know about where to get some serious firepower, 'cause we're gonna need it." AJ and Travis

The strangely shaped silhouette then made its way down an underground tunnel to tell Talon what he had seen.

(Labyrinth: Ch. 1. What Lies Beneath)

****The Sanctuary, 2 hours later.

Talon had been awoken very early that morning to find Al had something to report to him about AJ. What he had been told didn't sit well with him and he knew he had little time to think of a form of action to prevent a potential crisis that could reveal the Labyrinth and its inhabitants, and bring AJ back.

Reluctantly, the first thing he had done was have Maggie call the Eyrie Building for Xanatos' private number and let him know what he had heard and to keep it under the radar for now because this was just a group of misguided and trouble making hooligans out for a big score.

Speaking of which, what also greatly bothered him was the mention of these street youths possibly working for this Radar, a gang leader Talon had only heard of and knew by reputation from various police files and word of mouth. It was said this Radar was a dangerous and notorious leader of an underworld black market ring that smuggled and sold everything from illegal drugs and military level weapon arms to stolen technology, precious art and jewels, and possibly even some form of human trafficking. If any of the other gangs wanted something smuggled or illegally bought and didn't want revealed to the authorities, Radar was the middleman to go to.

It was even said he guarded his real name and identity so fiercely, he may have at some point destroyed his own birth certificate to erase any sign of a past and to this day there was little to no record of who Radar really was.

But this was only one part of a much larger problem; one Talon began to think he may have little choice but to seek outside help from.

However, he was not about to seek help from his gargoyle allies above and involve them in what was clearly a Labyrinth Clan matter, as the two clans' priorities differed and rarely aligned and this left one other solution; Talon decided he needed help from his former commanding officer, Captain Maria Chavez.

As extremely reluctant as he was to call Chavez, his long dormant and nearly stagnant from infrequent use 'cop instinct' now shouted at him to do the most obvious and inarguably right thing to do; call the police.

Although he could understand at times, and even now more than ever, why a lot of people were fearful of calling the police or other authorities and informing them about crimes and many other misdemeanors, something in Talon's gut was telling him to do it but he was not entirely sure why. Perhaps because Xanatos had mentioned, if way too casually, she was going to be at his party and Chavez was just the logical choice; perhaps because Maggie has had too much of an effect on him with her simple common sense and black and white views of how problems should be resolved without violence, one of the many reasons he loved her, and this was one of those times when just calling the police made the most sense; or perhaps it was also because he knew the time has come to inform his former commanding officer of what had happened to him and he had put it off long enough.

He hesitated for only a few more seconds before he finally dialed Captain Chavez's personal home number, at least what he remembered what it had been before his change in careers and he hoped to God it was the right one.

As what seemed passed for the hundredth ring, Talon held his breath waiting for Chavez to answer and did not doubt she would be none too happy at being awakened at a time irritating telemarketers from the other side of the world usually called. Then again, being a police captain did often mean very unusual hours, especially for the night shift.

Someone finally answered on the other end as a groggy and grumpy sounding male voice answered, "Hello?"

"Hello? Could I speak with Captain Chavez, please? It's very important," Talon answered.

"Are you one of her officers?" the man on the other end asked, sounding both more cooperative and a little suspicious.

"I was, I'm Derek Maza; I used to be a helicopter pilot at the station with Captain Chavez."

He briefly heard shuffling or other indistinguishable sounds as the phone was passed to Chavez and she answered, "Hello? Derek, is it really you? I haven't heard from you since the Phoenix Rising crisis."

"Yeah, it's been a while, Captain. Listen, I really need to talk to you, but there's going to be a lot of long stories and explaining for you to understand what's going on, because what I have to tell you is extremely complicated."

"Why? What's going on, Derek, and why should it be so complicated?"

Talon gave a deep growled sigh, this was a moment he tried to mentally and emotionally prepare for since being told about AJ and his street friends' planned party crashing, an issue he had long avoided but now can no longer put off.

"I have information that there might be a robbery at Xanatos' charity party tonight, and the gang of robbers may include a young man from the homeless shelter I run. The gang he's running around with may work for the notorious crime lord Radar and I have reason to fear their actions will endanger those under my protection if AJ leads his friends to the shelter with Radar not too far behind them."

"Thanks for the tip, Derek," Chavez said, "and if you're worried about criminal attacks or reprisals I can assign a few officers for police protection, for old time's sake."

"No!" Talon blurted out but tried to calm down, "No, thank you, Captain, but it's for everyone's safety the shelter's location is kept secret."

On the other end, at her home Captain Chavez's brow furrowed a bit with suspicion and confusion.

"Why, Derek, what's going on? Is that homeless shelter of yours involved in something illegal?"

Talon could only tense a bit as he said hesitantly, "Not exactly, Captain. Let's just say there're a lot of things down here that are seen as. . .extremely _unusual_ and won't be easily accepted by most people in regular society."

Chavez raised an eyebrow as she said, "I'd been enlightened to some of the _unusual_ a couple of months ago. Does it have anything to do with that?"

"In a way."

Chavez tapped a finger in thought for a moment as she then said, "Okay, Derek, if this is something you want off the books, I'll be sure you remain anonymous. But, it sounds like you have more to tell me."

"Yeah, a lot more, but I can't risk discussing it over the phone."

"Alright, where do you want to meet in person?"

A long silence passed when Derek did not answer, Chavez wondered for a moment if he was even still on the phone.

"Somewhere from a time before the unusual blew up in our faces," Talon finally said, hoping his former captain would understand.

They agreed on the meeting place, and Chavez told Talon to meet her there ASAP, but as Talon hung up his phone he could only brood about what he had just set in motion. However, he was seeing little other choice.

Before he allowed himself to hesitate anymore, he left Claw in charge of the Labyrinth as he set out to his meeting in ever increasing broad daylight.


	2. Chapter 2

****23rd Precinct

Seeing Maria Chavez, captain of the night shift return during the day shift made a few officers and the day shift captain raise some eyebrows, but she only told them she needed to find something she may have forgotten the night before.

It took a bit more discretion and some distasteful lying on her part to get to the meeting place, but she finally made it.

The last time Captain Chavez was up here in this old clock tower was while it was still under reconstruction in the long aftermath of the bombing by the Canmore siblings, and it still surprised her a bit how long the urban legends, the Gargoyles were living here right above her head. Though it was often difficult to climb, and she often went against the better judgment of her officers and doctor's orders, she would not let something like a broken leg stop her from doing her job or overseeing the rebuilding of her precinct.

Now it was a piece of cake to climb up the door ladder to the now empty and more modern Gothic clock tower with her long healed leg.

Though the Sun was not yet very high in the azure blue sky outside, what natural light filtered through still did little to disperse this realm of time and shadows.

Maria looked at her surroundings with a strange sense of discomfort and trepidation, as though sensing something was still here and should not be, ancient primal instincts warning her she was not alone and being watched by inhuman eyes. She momentarily dismissed it as her imagination playing tricks until she thought she heard a faint shuffling and a shadow move out of the corner of her eye.

She then thought it might be a big rat, which she really detested, but was unlikely as the precinct was now constantly fumigated by exterminators paid to keep city vermin at bay. In a weird way, it may have been a subconscious comfort for city officials as though it was another way to keep gargoyles away.

She then called out low and what she hoped in a non threatening voice,

"Derek, are you here? Is that you?"

A swift shadow flew nearly soundlessly over her head; she looked up but saw nothing.

"Yes, it's me, Captain. Thanks for coming on such short notice," a low husky voice answered nervously from the unmoving and yet somehow living shadows, echoed preternaturally in the large chamber.

"It's been a long time, and you've still got some friends here who miss hearing from you, Derek. We'd thought you'd at least keep in touch from your new job with Xanatos."

What sounded like a low growl reverberated from the shadows, making Maria nervously look wide eyed around the large empty tower.

"I know, and I'm sorry. But let's just say I couldn't because it was due to my own stubbornness and circumstances beyond my control."

"What circumstances?" Chavez asked suspiciously, "Derek, what's going on? Did Xanatos do something illegal and you didn't report it?"

She noticed a bit of movement from the darkest shadows behind one of the massive clock gears, what appeared to be a humanoid shaped silhouette and yet somehow completely alien to her eyes. She took a few slow steps towards it, and it seemed to retreat a bit deeper as the husky deep voice said with some guilt,

"I couldn't. If I did my life and the lives of others would've been in great danger. What I'm doing now, coming to you may still put them in great danger."

Chavez could only feign confusion as she furrowed her brow trying to get a better look at her informant.

"I can understand that, Derek," she said with some empathy, yet some of her authority as his former commanding officer leaked through as she continued, "But you wanted this meeting, and to tell me something having to do with Xanatos' party allegedly going to be robbed tonight. You also hinted you know of some connection to the Gargoyles, Elisa's friends and the ones who used to live here. If it's really that important, Derek, you have to tell me."

The silhouette retreated deeper still as Chavez came a step or so closer.

"Why are you hiding back there?" she asked suspiciously.

"I don't want to scare you," he said with clear anxiety.

"Scare me? How can you scare me when I've known you since you were a rookie?"

"I'm not like how you knew me, not anymore. Let's just say I look different on the outside, but I'm still me on the inside."

Her brow furrowed deeper to make her look a bit older to add to ever deepening confusion. She could understand a bit of her former subordinate's reluctance, but her job had always been about upholding the law and enforcing justice. Often what meant being in law enforcement was having a strong sense of skepticism and seeing solid tangible evidence with one's own eyes, as well as gathering facts before forming a solid conclusion.

She finally said with an experienced balance of authority and empathy, "I can't make any promises, Derek, but I will try to do all I can to help you. Let me see you, please."

There was a long pregnant moment of hesitation until he finally said, "Please don't run, I don't want to attract any more attention to myself. The screaming, I'm more or less used to."

Chavez's furrowed brow deepened a bit more then gradually went wide eyed as she saw four talons as black as the shadows slowly emerged from the darkness like a fluid blanket to be followed by a large, muscular bestial digitigrade leg covered in ebony fur and the body of a large inhuman creature like a gargoyle, but a panther with great bat wings wearing an armored tunic. The creature looked at Captain Chavez with soulful alien yellow golden eyes and a clear expression of apprehension and hope as its enormous muscular body squeezed its way through an opening in the giant gear.

"Oh my God!" Chavez cried in a forced whisper, taking a few steps back and her hazel green eyes had nearly gone to the size of saucers, "Who are you?! _What_ the hell are you?! You look like a gargoyle, but I understand they're statues during the day!"

Talon frowned as his former captain looked upon him with shock and fear he had become accustomed to until those still human had come to know him better. It was a look he had come to frequently expect, yet it still stung his heart no less.

"I understand your reaction, Captain," he said as he stood still, "And you now know why I went off the grid, but I really am Derek Maza, though these days I'm better known as Talon. And I'm called a mutate now, a creature genetically spliced with various animal DNA to resemble a gargoyle of sorts."

Chavez could only stare on in disbelief, despite what she had been shown in recent times and all of it still too much to accept in such a short time. She wanted to believe this creature, but she had a suspicion this might be an attempt at deception or a trap.

Or this gargoyle like creature was telling the truth, but she needed irrefutable proof.

"You can't be Derek Maza," she breathed with heavy denial, "But if you are, I need evidence this isn't some attempt to entrap me and hold an officer of the law hostage, because I will see the full power of the system brought down on you."

Talon clenched his jaw at this harsh statement from a woman he believed he could trust, but he knew it was not unexpected and he did not want to even think of the fate that could befall him and the others if she kept the promise of such a threat.

"I understand, Captain," he said calmly, "When I was still on the force, I piloted the chopper to the Statue of Liberty during one of the first sightings of gargoyles and they turned out to be robots."

Chavez's brow furrowed again to the point of sharpening the lines of her aging yet still youthful features, her skepticism all too clear.

"Maybe," she said, "But that incident became known to the public after Travis Marshall reported it."

Talon had to suppress a frustrated growl, though he knew he needed something more concrete.

"When I was still a rookie," he began, "and my dad was getting ready to retire, I almost ruined evidence from a sting operation to bring down an embezzlement con being operated by the Dracon mafia family through a Cyberbiotics employee. It wasn't too bad, but it would have been enough to question its legitimacy and been dismissed as circumstantial and possibly even letting the suspects getting away with millions of dollars."

"And what evidence was almost ruined from this case?" Chavez asked this creature claiming to be Derek Maza.

"Basically paperwork, I was always terrible with it. It was records showing this employee's bank records having anomalies and inaccuracies and phone calls made to an unlisted number in a small interval of time no one would notice save by the most eagle eyed detective like my sister. If she hadn't caught my stupid mix up of the records the suspect would have been acquitted of the crimes and Cyberbiotics would have continued to lose money, or someone else innocent of the crime would have gone to jail for life. The three of us swore to keep it between us, because it would have also meant my being kicked off the force, though now that I think of it may not have been a bad thing as I didn't feel being a cop was right for me anyway, but the rest of it would have ruined everything if Elisa hadn't caught my screw up."

Something changed in Captain Chavez's expression, as though something had lit up in her conscience as Talon told about a past case and what she was told what happened by the rookie Maza siblings, going from strong skepticism to surprised disbelief.

"My god," she breathed, "You may actually really be Derek, because only Elisa and I know about him making such a rookie mistake. But how. . .what. . ."

"If you still don't believe me," Talon said, "I brought this with me."

He reached behind himself and held out a small object in the palm of his furred hand for Captain Chavez to see, it was a lapel pin with the symbol of St. Christopher, the Patron Saint of Travelers. Chavez could only stare in silent shock at the little pin as Talon said,

"You gave me this after I accepted my new job with Xanatos, in the hopes I would find what I was looking for outside the force. You also told me St. Christopher was as a patron saint of pilots, and I was the best pilot the force was losing and Xanatos was gaining."

Part of Captain Chavez was still doubtful of what this creature told her, yet his proof was strong and nearly irrefutable. Also, he was still an informant about a yet to be committed crime, and he had done much to earn her trust in such a short time.

But if he truly was Derek Maza. . .

"Your journey must've taken you to some interesting places," she said almost tonelessly, "But what has happened to you? How did. . .?" She gestured to his whole being "this happen?"

Talon gave a heavy growling sigh, having been ready for this moment since stepping from the shadows and yet he still did not feel prepared for it.

"Like I said over the phone," he said, "There's going to be a lot of explaining and long stories for you to understand what's really going on."

And so began his long explanation of his transformation and following disappearance; the set up 'accident' for his mutation by Sevarius and Xanatos; the set up and founding of the Labyrinth and homeless community they protect; and even the taking in of the estranged clones of the Manhattan Clan; and finally, the attempts of atonement and finding of a cure by Xanatos under the umbrella charity company of the Xanatos-Renard Foundation to Aid the Homeless.

Maria Chavez once again found herself a bit overwhelmed by an unbelievable story, but whereas she was shown gargoyles and told of magic and fairy tales come to life and gone crazy, here it was mad science from a Frankenstein B movie of the 1950s with some warped comic book campiness.

Then something else came to the forefront of her mind as a flash of light and a bang to own detective's memory.

"I remember reading the case file reporting an incident at Gen-U-Tech, reports of gunfire, explosions, an alleged fist fight, and witnesses hearing screaming before someone was killed but no body was found, and the large fish tank of electric eels was found to be destroyed. Elisa and Matt were also there to investigate an alleged kidnapping at Gen-U-Tech right before that happened. It's claimed it was just an accident from an experiment gone awry, but both cases were declared inconclusive and went cold."

Talon frowned at this, not too surprised to hear it as he said, "No doubt some of it a bit of behind the scenes strings pulled by Xanatos to cover up what really happened. But, yes both cases are connected and for now must remain cold."

Chavez went stiff and said with a dead seriousness, "You know I can't do that, Derek. If Xanatos and this Dr. Sevarius committed these crimes and covered them up, it's my duty to bring them to justice and close these cases."

"I'm sorry, Captain," Talon said with equal seriousness, "But I can't allow that. You know Xanatos will just find a way around it as just circumstantial, and as disguised as I am to admit it, he is and always had been my and the others only chance for a cure. Sevarius I understand is now working for Nightstone and no doubt their lawyers will just further inhibit your chances of arresting that maniac, as much as I would love to see him behind bars, or better yet in a high security insane asylum. But I have to think about my clan and those we protect. If it got out that there's a real life proverbial mad scientist that can and has turned people into this" He pointed to himself "Imagine the controversy and outrage, we'd be no better off than the Gargoyles right now, if not worse. Because we're not human anymore, I doubt we'll be recognized as having the same basic rights as normal people because the law doesn't recognize mutates or Gargoyles as legally existing. I can only imagine the red tape you're having to go through just to get Goliath and his clan recognized lawfully as entitled to those same rights, imagine adding mutates to your priorities right now."

Chavez could only remain silent, knowing in a way her former officer was right. Since she was finally introduced to the Gargoyles by Elisa, she had found it a bit difficult to do her job by the book, having been required more and more to bend the rules she had strongly upheld for years on the force. Still, she could not and was not willing to abandon her principles so easily.

"Alright, Derek, I'll leave the cases cold, for your sake. For now." The last two words were greatly emphasized by her dead serious undertone, to which Talon only nodded.

"But what would you have me do now?" she asked, "You're showing up answers a lot of unanswered questions, but brings up new ones, and I'm already deep in paperwork with the mayor's and District Attorney's offices with the Gargoyles right now. If you'll pardon the expression, I'm already between a rock and a hard place."

Talon barely suppressed a small smile, but remained stoic as he said, "I know right now your first priority with the city police is putting a stop to the city's gang war currently going on, it's one of the reasons I came to you. If AJ and his street friends do work for Radar, I have to prevent the gang war from coming to the Labyrinth. Underworld criminals ruthless and dangerous enough don't care who they victimize if anyone gets in their way, and if scum like Radar discover the Labyrinth as a means to further his grip on the underworld, we'd be massacred. I've heard stories of gruesome killings by street gangs murdering friends of homeless people I protect now, all simply for the fun of it."

A cold shiver went down Captain Chavez's spine, all too well aware of troubling reports she had read about and personal experience as a beat cop in street killings and murders.

"I could suggest tightening security at Xanatos' party, but something tells me it won't be enough."

"Maybe not," Talon agreed, "because there's a lot of weird things going on and I'm betting it could still get weird at that party, especially with Xanatos involved."

"Our best chance might just be to catch them red handed, and arrest them on sight. I could get a few more officers to get undercover before tonight, and if anything weird is going to happen, any help from our Gargoyle friends may go against procedure but may give us the advantage we will need."

"You'll have help alright, Captain," Talon said, "But I don't want Goliath or his clan involved in this, it's my priority and he's got enough problems. Let me and my clan handle it and we'll be your back up."

Chavez gave the panther mutate a skeptical look as she said, "I don't know, Derek, I trusted you once as a police officer, and I'm inclined to trust you now with the information you're giving me, but as much as I've gone outside by the book procedures with Goliath and his clan I know how they work. I might go too far if they're not legally recognized soon, and I may go too far now in having to rely on another group of would be vigilantes, despite one of them being a former officer. Legal existence aside, you're all still civilians and I can't allow civilians to get involved in dangerous situations."

Talon gave a bit of a prideful smile as he said, "I understand your dilemma, Captain, but I've been in plenty of dangerous situations that might make something like this look like kid stuff. I may live underground, but I've seen really weird stuff that almost makes the Gargoyles pale in comparison."

Chavez's face was neutral but hard as she considered what he said for several long moments until she finally said,

"I'll take it under consideration, but I feel this must be handled as a real legal situation handled by real officers of law enforcement. I'm going to do what I can to see what needs to be done, and all within the legal system. Hopefully, there won't be any need for 'outside' help, but for now consider yourself on 'stand by' as a very last resort."

"Very well, Captain," Talon agreed, "We both know our jobs and what we have to do."

Chavez gave him a nod.

Preparations were to be made for tonight, but for Captain Chavez if felt like a weight on her shoulders just became much heavier, and her world, which she began to understand was not as she knew it, had just become a whole lot stranger.

One way or another, she will see justice done.


	3. Chapter 3

****Old Dracon Warehouse near the docks

It would have easily been mistaken for any other old dilapidated warehouse in the city, but this one had something of an odd if checkered and colorful history.

Had AJ or any of his friends looked closer, they would have seen an old pile of melted slag with little evidence of once being advanced high powered non-projectile weapons, and in another corner were pieces of what may have been dark blue jump suit uniforms and metal bars with bits of electronic guts protruding out and hammer heads missing.

There was also some minor evidence, such as a piece of loose leaf paper which may have been part of a document that told part of some kind of loosely organized militia planned to use this same warehouse as one of several bases across the city.

Now it severed once again as a meeting place for less than savory company, with a would-be former Labyrinth dweller and his friends among them.

AJ just stood with a blank look on his somewhat ashen face as ski masks and different kinds of guns, both conventional and some looking like they came from the old Star Trek show, were passed out by some guys he thought once were his friends but now he was having some doubts and second thoughts.

While those like Travis, Greaser, and Buster all agreed they wanted out from Radar's grip, some of the others showed real loyalty to the bastard. Why, AJ did not know and would not have cared an iota before, but now for some reason he was becoming a bit worried because something made his skin crawl at how something about this planned heist seemed off to him.

Obviously living in that sewer for so long had made him soft for some reason.

He then banished the thought as he took his own ski mask and weapon from a burly street thug known only as Spike, a clichéd name at best, and the self proclaimed leader of the gang came forward to address the gathered small crowd, a number of whom were, not surprisingly, Radar's flunkies and supporters.

Somehow the black market crime lord had found out about AJ's proposed heist very shortly after going to one of their old street friends, called Bad Brad, and immediately sent his best men and strongest supporters to 'help' with the success of the heist, but AJ and his friends knew Radar wanted his share and to ensure their continued reluctant loyalty.

"Alright, listens up, youse losers," Spike spoke up in a roughened voice, "This may look likes a simple snatch and grab job, but it ain't that easy 'cause Xanatos is sure to have tight security. So that's why we gots a few o' youse ta takes somes o' the 'Scura ta gives us the edge we needs. So whiles those o' youse with supa powers uses them ta gets us inside, the rest o' us gets what we can and gets out. But if anybody gets in yer way, deals with 'em or shoots 'em, I don't care."

Almost half of the group members gave excited confirmations as they all began to leave and further prepare for tonight's excitement, but those like AJ and his friends didn't show any enthusiasm for what was supposed to be their high note and Radar's 'helpers' as their allies were just stealing the show for their own interests as well as their boss's.

Though AJ and a few of his friends now had second thoughts of going through with tonight's hit, there was no turning back now, and there was no other choice but to follow the rest of the group, nonetheless if just to get the whole thing over with.

****Labyrinth, just after Sunset

Talon had finally returned to his underground home, though he felt very exhausted from his journey to return without being seen or just being mistaken for another Gargoyle, despite having no other choice but to sleep the day away in a secluded corner of the 23rd Precinct clock tower. Part of it may have been due to awakening suddenly every hour or so for fear of being discovered by a janitor, construction worker, or another officer besides Chavez, or maybe even to sleeping in an unfamiliar place he was not accustomed to.

It may have also been due to the all the stress he was having to deal with involving AJ and his responsibilities as a clan leader, and impending fatherhood, all of which he was certain will give him gray hair, or rather gray fur, way too early.

Whatever the reason, he was just relieved to be home so he can take a small party to the museum and be 'back up' for Captain Chavez and the other undercover officers at Xanatos' charity benefit. The only question was whom he could take, because hardly anyone in his clan could be called warriors.

As a former officer he had the most fighting experience with basic self defense training, and even rudimentary training in boxing which was amateurish compared to his big sister's training in black belt martial arts. He taught some of the self defense he knew to the other mutates and those they protected, but none of them, save for Fang, were ever really eager to get into a fight.

Fang was gone now, and good riddance to bad rubbish Talon thought, which meant the next strongest was Claw, though he never wanted to fight he was always willing to help his friends.

Like Claw, Maggie detested fighting, but she was out of the question due to her current condition, and Talon would just loose his own soul if anything happened to her.

Sharon, arguably the newest mutate, was strong and adaptable, but she was best suited to helping Dr. Goldblum in his research for a cure and helping to look after the clones as she too did not want to get involved in violence because of her past experience with organized crime and she also had limited knowledge of self defense and martial arts.

Now the clones were something of a mixed bag, and as Talon and his Manhattan Clan allies knew well they were capable fighters but not the most tactical or strategic as they only knew to 'obey Thailog' and were only freshly out of the can back then as it were. While their mental thinking had come a long way since then, they were still kids learning about the world and required a lot of guidance. However, Delilah had quickly come into her own possibly due to her somewhat superior intelligence to her brothers', but Talon was still peeved with her about her running away to the Gargoyles' World Council and had been keeping a close eye on her ever since, yet she was still a reasonable choice for a rescue/backup team.

So it would be him, Claw, and Delilah on the team, but Talon still felt it was shorthanded and he needed something more.

As he mused on this, several people came up to him in relief and concern from being gone all day, Maggie hugging him tightly to herself as though to let go again would mean he was not really there and he would be gone like a puff of smoke.


	4. Chapter 4

****Late evening, the Museum of the City of New York

It was another gala of palatial and prestigious gatherings as attendees mingled about dressed in their finest and most extravagant fashions money could buy to create a scene all a washed with a vibrant rainbow of color, and tasted gourmet food served by the best catering business in the city while on the side some people would write down a bid for items up for sale in a silent auction, one of which was the nearly priceless Coyote Diamond.

"Welcome, so glad you could make it," Xanatos said with halfhearted sincerity as he shook the hand of yet another wealthy attendee to his charity event, a task to which he was burdened with as being the party host.

In the not so distant past, he would have reveled in this sort of high class socializing, yet now it seemed a bit hallow as he remembered what it all was meant for.

Not only was it important to raise enough donations for the his homeless foundation and continue to fund Dr. Goldblum's research for a cure for the mutates, one ulterior motive was his atonement to the Maza family as well as the Gargoyles, and beneath that was respecting and honoring the memory of the man who shared his name with the foundation, Halcyon Renard.

Although Renard in the past had been Xanatos' most fierce rival, both in business and personally, the younger businessman always held a deep respect for the man and eventual father-in-law. Although Xanatos had scoffed and dismissed Renard's preachings of integrity and honor as nothing more than the rantings of an old man too set on ways of the past and too afraid of change and as inflexible as his arthritic skeletal form, he still admired the crippled old man's mind for business and innovation in the sciences which also bespoke of a strong will and the soul of a tiger, which may have been the main reasons why he was still able to live longer than was believed medically possible for someone with such a life crippling disease.

In some ways, Halcyon Renard also reminded Xanatos a bit of his own father and how Petros often scolded his own son on his growing amoral life style and never having really earned anything he had since receiving that mysterious envelope with a Medieval gold piece worth $20,000.

The only exception in recent years may have been having his own son, and how proud he wanted little Alexander to be of his father as he grew up and leave to him a legacy of goodness and redemption behind, that even his father's most heinous deeds could be amended and in time seen as mere footnotes in shaping who David Xanatos is today.

Ever since Alexander was born and nearly lost to him as Oberon mercilessly attacked Castle Wyvern and the Eyrie Building, Petros Xanatos expressed how proud he really was of David and that night he was prouder of him than he ever had been.

Although Xanatos would not admit it out loud to Petros or himself, his own father's praise had meant more to him than anything, and it was another reason and drive for atoning for his many past mistakes and prove Petros' proudness was not misplaced.

Over the years, as a father himself now Xanatos understood more and more what being a parent meant and what sacrifices and joys came with it. Renard's and Petros' beliefs in integrity, honor, and loyalty now clear sense to him and but one key reason for his ulterior motives.

Unfortunately, though this event was indeed for raising charity benefits, he had another if more insidious reason for throwing this gala, one he had become very reluctant to carry out though he would not deny its usefulness and benefits in the end.

Xanatos then eyed a person of interest to him, a dapper gentleman in an imported Italian silk suit of onyx black and a silk shirt of a crisp milky white with a deep blue bow tie. On his arm was an attractive young woman with deep auburn hair done up in is a tight helix braid and bun, and wearing a velvet dress of a reddish mahogany color with ruffled sleeves draped over slender sultry shoulders and a cut over the left leg for a tantalizing view up to her slender and curved hip.

"Mr. Draconis, glad you could make it," Xanatos greeted the dapper gentleman as he held out his hand to welcome Brandon Draconis, aka Brando Dracon.

For but a moment there was a tenseness to their handshake, one underlined with grudging respect on more than just business rivalry.

"Mr. Xanatos," he politely said, "Another fine party as usual."

"May I have the honor of knowing your lovely companion?" Xanatos inquired.

"This is Clarice, my escort for the evening," Brando said in a tone that clearly stated the matter was closed, the sassy redheaded Clarice and suave Xanatos merely politely nodded to each other.

"This is my wife, Fox," Xanatos introduced his significant other, who wore a custom made satin sleeveless dress of a vibrant indigo color with a moderate but still alluring heart shaped cut, and her hair was high up in a Cinderella style hair due to show off the priceless diamond earrings and diamond choker set she wore; as a catering server walked by with a genuine silver platter of crystal glasses filled with expensive imported champagne, each of them taking one.

"To charity," Brando said with an indifferent monotone as he raised his crystalline glass.

"To second chances," Xanatos toasted with a bit more sincerity, to which all four raised their glasses to in a formal toast and took demur sips of the fine bubbly.

A tense moment passed between the businessmen before Brando inquired, "Tell me, Xanatos, what is it exactly this charity benefit is supposed to be about? I've nothing against any form of charity as it is always about worthy causes, and it looks good during tax season" They gave low hollow chuckles "However, I do prefer to know where my money is going."

Xanatos momentarily quirked an eyebrow as he said, "I'd think the name of the Xanatos-Renard Foundation to Aid the Homeless spoke for itself, Brandon, but if just to humor you, it's a research foundation for medical research into many physical and mental disabilities commonly found among homeless and poor people. It is also venturing into side programs for job training and placement for many who are unemployed but are still capable of working, and building new homes and shelters similar to Habitat for Humanity, which we are currently in the middle of discussing a collaboration with. The whole concept is a joint venture and partnership between Xanatos Enterprises and Cyberbiotics to make this city better for everyone, and though Cyberbiotics is now legally a subsidiary of Xanatos Enterprises that partnership still stands. This benefit will raise more funding for that research and into helping the less fortunate, and I hold this benefit near the anniversary of the death of the late Halcyon Renard, a man of great honor and integrity and whom I held a deep respect for despite our differences."

"I see," Brando said, "But would others not see this 'partnership' as being somewhat dubious because rumors tell of you employing others who had previously worked for Renard, as well as the rumors of your wife's own personal relation to Halcyon Renard?"

Fox and David Xanatos both just gave knowing smiles as Fox said, "My father and I had our differences, and I didn't live up to his expectations as I wanted to follow my own path, but after my son was born we both did our best at reconciliation because that's what families do. Their starting the homeless foundation together was merely an important step in that same reconciliation between my husband and my father. No matter what people may think, I love my husband and I loved my father, both I know to be good men."

"Mm. It's indeed disappointing when family doesn't live up to expectations, especially after they show such potential and promise and it's wasted. Take my nephew, Anthony, for instance. After his father, my younger brother Salvador, tragically past on I promised to look after the boy and have him become my successor in the family business. Unfortunately, that potential was squandered in personal pursuits which often got him into much trouble and ended in travesty. Now my daughter, Silvia, is another matter. She does show a bit of promise in taking over the family business, but she is still a bit too promiscuous to really understand the inner workings of business, perhaps that is in some part my doing as I doted on her as a child, and her hellion spirit leaves much to be desired."

"It might not be too late in educating your daughter in the finer points of business and how to run it," Fox said, "After all, I was something of a wild child myself, but my father taught me everything I know and more about running a business, even though I thought it was the most mind numbingly boring thing in the world."

"Perhaps, Mrs. Xanatos," Brando said in an almost dismissive monotone, "But in my family it has always been tradition to have a male heir, and unless Anthony learns some discipline I'm looking to find a proper suitor for Silvia and marry her off to my appointed successor. Someone with a mind for business marketing, calculating ruthlessness, and ambition, but not lacking in a bit of cleverness and cunning as a man needs these traits to get ahead of the competition."

They continued to give civil but forced smiles to Dracon's statement, but on the inside both Xanatoses were fuming, David for the way Dracon was nearly insulting his wife's intelligence and Fox for his nearly blatant chauvinistic view.

"Well, we'll just see what happens in the future, Brandon my boy," Xanatos said with near obvious forced overfriendliness, "But tell me, this nephew of yours. Is he by chance the same Anthony who once successfully stole a shipment of experimental non-projectile weapons from my company, or was that a different Anthony Dracon with a similar name?"

"Unfortunately, that was indeed Anthony, which greatly embarrasses me to admit. Why, Xanatos? Are you asking me for reimbursement for your stolen property by Anthony? Because just so you understand, I don't have any intention of paying for any of Anthony's past reckless mistakes, in any shape or form."

"No, no," Xanatos laughed low as he waved a hand, "My company's property was recovered soon after by more subtle means. Simple curiosity, nothing more. However, I would be sure to be more careful with whom your nephew or another one of your associates did their business with involving any form of, shall we say, capitalist acquisition pilfering."

Brando looked at Xanatos with confusion touched with suspicion with a raised eyebrow as the party host took another sip of his champagne.

"What exactly are you implying, Mr. Xanatos?"

Xanatos looked at Brando with his signature suave smirk, beneath which was a dark amusement.

"Oh, nothing much, only that I have the somewhat distasteful but necessary obligation of reminding people such as yourself of past business arrangements."

"What past business arrangements are you referring to?"

Xanatos' amused expression became a bit darker as he said, "Arrangements once made by your father's late partner, arrangements I have been made to understand still stand to this day with the late Mr. Malone's secret benefactors."

Brando's face twisted a bit as though his drink had suddenly become soured with an overdose of lemon juice, but he remained calm and collected as he simply said,

"I know very little of my father's former business partner, Mace Malone. Mostly how he betrayed my father's trust and duped him out of his rightful share of diamonds. I also only know of rumors of how he was a traitor in throwing his lot in with some secret society, like the Skull and Bones or something, and revealing sensitive business secrets and information to them. Whatever business arrangements he made with this alleged secret society in betraying my father are merely rumors and irrelevant to me and my own business pursuits as the man has been dead for decades now."

He took another sip of his drink as though the matter were closed, but Xanatos' cool demeanor became a bit darker as his own smile deepened a bit and his dark eyes narrowed as he said,

"I wish that were true, Brandon, but on the contrary, it's extremely relevant as they have been my benefactors as well and I have been tasked by them with mediating a compromise to the current problematic situation affecting the city. They feel the feud you're having with representatives of Far East business parties is a waste of time and valuable resources, and if it doesn't immediately cease they may be forced to take drastic measures."

Although Brando remained outwardly calm and indifferent, his eyes narrowed a bit to the point of being as sharp as a razor ice pick, and his blood began to run cold as a tingle of trepidation ran down his spine.

"I don't take kindly to threats of blackmail, Xanatos, especially when someone is bluffing about it," he said with a steel hard edge, "So you can drop the Machiavellian act with your fantasy benefactors, even if your reputation depends on such nonsense."

"Oh, it's not a threat, Brando," Xanatos said with suave calmness and completely undeterred, "Merely an insistent request and friendly warning, as they have silently funded some of your biggest operations for many years now and still believe your business to be a good asset for the future. In fact, they may be a big reason why you're still in operation right now as I understand the city's crime war has taken a great toll on many big businesses, mine included. No doubt we can work together to find a suitable solution and resolve to end the violence."

For some reason Brando could not at the moment comprehend, his eyes just seemed to fall onto a peculiar lapel pin his host was happening to wear, a rectangular shaped gold pin with an image Brando could only akin to an Egyptian pyramid. Although he would have only thought it to be an interesting design for a mundane piece of jewelry, something about it was disconcerting and he did not like what he did not completely understand.

He took another sip of his champagne as though to calm his growing nerves as Xanatos said a bit too cheerfully,

"Well, well, speak of the devil, I think I see one of our Far East business friends right now. Mr. Kimura, please come join us."

Hiruko Kimura, wearing a pewter gray Japanese silk formal suit and with a beautiful but strongly dignified young woman on his arm, smoothly swaggered up to the two older businessmen and gave a civil bow and handshake to Xanatos and merely a tolerant nod to Brando, which the Dracon godfather barely returned.

"Brandon Draconis, may I introduce Mr. Hiruko Kimura, whom I believe is acquaintanced with one of your colleagues, a Mr. Frank Nielson I presume."

"A pleasure, Mr. Draconis," Hiruko said with a polite smile, "My wife, Chiyo. An impressive charity benefit, Mr. Xanatos-san, we've had an enjoyable time so far. To what do I own this pleasure?"

"David, please. Brandon and I were just beginning to discuss the affects of the city's crime war and how we as businessmen can put an end to it. Surely you would agree we can do much more than just raise money from generous donations to make this city a better place, Mr. Kimura, otherwise more than just important investments and people's livelihoods would be threatened by the continued bloodshed."

"Yes, indeed, David," Hiruko said as two more catering servers walked by the small group, one with another silver tray of imported champagne and the other with small but no less expensive hours d'oeuvres, Hiruko taking a glass and the others the delectable food samples.

"It would indeed be a pity if we couldn't come to a civil agreement in resolving the unrest on the streets, especially as it will continue to affect what is supposed to be friendly business competition, and this seemingly unending crime war has turned it into a fight for survival. If capable businessmen such as the three of us were to combine our resources, I estimate we could have as much as a thirty-four percent chance of ending the street fighting that much sooner."

"Really?" Xanatos smirked a bit, "I would think thirty-six percent."

The lines of Brando's face seemed to tighten and crease a bit more to further sharpen his Italian-American features as the conversation had taken a turn he was most uncomfortable with, the champagne he continued to sip did little to calm his nerves.

"Why not meet in the middle with thirty-five percent," he said with a hint of sarcasm, "But for all you know it may only be effective to a minor ten, which is why I must regretfully turn down the offer of a partnership with you, Xanatos. It's nothing personal, simply business, and my business resources at the moment are limited to just staying on top of the competition, much of which now involves an anonymous client and important investor."

"Really?" Xanatos said intrigued, "Perhaps you could put in a good word for me as I might be interested in doing business with your mysterious client."

"I'm not sure about that," Brando continued uncomfortably, "That will be up to him as he can have very strict terms if his demands aren't met properly."

"I'm sure it's nothing I can't handle," Xanatos smirked again, "I've had plenty of past experience dealing with, how should I say, difficult clients before."

"Nothing quite like this," Brando said with some lingering apprehension he tried to conceal, "While he pays well, and even has been a reliable information broker of sorts, this anonymous client has very high expectations and has shown if his demands aren't met to those expectations, well, let's just say his methods of showing his displeasure at failure can be quite…severe, to put it mildly." A moment of amusement came to his face with a small smirk; certain Xanatos had to be squirming on the inside behind that arrogant calm smirk. " Ways of punishment that seem like something from the Dark Ages."

"In ancient Feudal Japan," Hiruko said, "when a Samurai soldier failed his leader or did a transgression that brought great shame, the only way to keep his honor would be to commit _seppuku_. That means…"

"Yes, yes, Mr. Kimura," Brando said dismissively with a wave of his hand, "I'm aware of what it's supposed to mean. What relevance does it have to this conversation?"

"Besides an interesting bit of trivia from the land of my heritage, I supposed it can also serve as a bit of advice of being cautious when doing business with certain kinds of people, because if they turn out not be who we think they are, best to end a business partnership quickly if you wish to keep your dignity in tacked and your pocket book full."

Xanatos, Fox, and Hiruko all chuckled together, but Brando's face just twisted a bit more with a scowl as his eyes narrowed a bit more.

"Good evening, everyone," a short and paunchy man greeted, and with him was a beautiful young woman with dark features in a deep lavender bedazzled formal dress on his arm, "May I join in on your conversation? Forgive my eavesdropping, but I overheard something about the Dark Ages and business partnerships, sounds intriguing."

"Ah, Mr. Fergus, is it?" Xanatos greeted him with a civil handshake, "I take it you're filling in for Mr. Thailog?"

"Indeed," Fergus said, "Mr. Thailog sends his regards, but he is a very busy man."

"And who is your lovely escort this evening?" Xanatos asked charmingly.

"Call me Shari," the young woman said as she allowed Xanatos to gentlemanly take her hand like he was going to kiss it, but he just gave a bow of courtesy as he noticed one of her more unique necklaces.

"Ms. Shari," Xanatos said gentlemanly, "A pleasure to have you and Mr. Fergus at my fundraiser. Forgive my forwardness, friends, but it greatly raises my spirits to see three representatives of six of the biggest companies in the city together right now, because Brando, Hiruko, and I were just discussing trying to combine our resources to end the city wide gang war plaguing the streets right now."

"Indeed, Mr. Xanatos," Shari said with a polite smile, "Already I heard there's nine billion dollars worth of damage across the city, including everything from vandalism to arson. However, as admirable as that is, Mr. Fergus would like to discuss something else with you."

"And what would you like to discuss, Mr. Fergus?" Xanatos asked.

"I know you're all in the middle of a different conversation, Mr. Xanatos," Fergus said with whatever confidence he mustered at that moment, "But I was hoping to speak with you about the diamond up for auction."

"Ah, the Coyote Diamond," Xanatos said with pride, "the most valuable diamond in the world for its flawless beauty, making it priceless. I know it raises a few questions and some eyebrows that I'd do something trivial with it like putting it up for auction, but I find this puts it to better use than gathering dust in my private collection for the last several years, and it's for a worthy cause for the greater good."

"Of course," Fergus said in a toneless voice, "I have put in Mr. Thailog's bid for the jewel, however I was hoping to negotiate for it personally as my employer is highly interested in it."

"I'm certain he is," Xanatos said with knowing smirk, "as is everyone else who's put in their own auction tonight. Well, my apologies, Mr. Fergus, but I'm afraid there's no negotiating for personal favors for the Coyote Diamond, as Mr. Thailog's bid is already put in. And if he bid the highest the diamond is his, or if not, well it's nothing personal; it's how an auction works."

"Yes, it is," Mr. Fergus said with a low tone of frustration, "Still, is there no way I can convince you, Mr. Xanatos?"

"No, I'm afraid not, Mr. Fergus," Xanatos smirked, "However, I am willing to let you in on our conversation of how to make this city better, perhaps even convince our good friend Mr. Draconis here to get in on the proposed business venture."

Brando just gave another scowl that tightened his facial features more, and was about to say something else when another person walked up to the group.

"Mr. Xanatos," called a woman with medium brown hair, hazel green eyes with a steel hard expression, and wearing a black sequined-yoke evening gown. She walked up to the group with a confident and authoritativeness in her step and stopped just short of them as she said with a serious finality tone in her voice,

"I need to speak with you, privately."

Xanatos momentarily gave a raised eyebrow, but then just politely introduced the new arrival.

"Ah, everyone, I believe this is Captain Maria Chavez of the NYPD. What may I do for you, Ms. Chavez?"

Maria just stood sternly and stoically before them with tightly crossed arms as Brando's brow furrowed and his lips tightened as more apprehensiveness and irritability grew within him.

"If you'll all excuse me," he said with a hard edge tone, and with Clarice arm in arm with him made his way deeper into the crowded party and away from a group of people who gave him a near nervous breakdown, the reasons for which he didn't understand and he really didn't like what he didn't understand.

Xanatos and the others just gave confused looks, but the suave billionaire just shrugged as he said smoothly,

"Well, I suppose we'll just have to come back to him later. So, Ms. Chavez, will your husband be joining us? What do want to talk to us about?"

"Just you, _Mr._ Xanatos, and I said I need to speak with you _privately_."

Hearing the hard stone edge in her voice, Xanatos just raised an eyebrow again as he smiled politely to everyone and said,

"I'll rejoin you all shortly, my friends. Fox, my dear, I know you'll keep everyone well entertained."

"Of course, David," Fox said teasingly, "I was once in the entertainment business."

Some laughs were shared as Xanatos walked casually and nonchalantly with Maria to a quiet corner with few or no people passing by.

"So, Captain," Xanatos said, "What is it you wish to talk to me about in private? Surely it's nothing that couldn't have been discussed in from of the others."

"I want to talk to you about Derek Maza," she answered a bit coldly, which actually made a slight chill go down Xanatos' spine but he didn't show it and just kept his usual cool head.

But that chill got a bit colder as she said with that same icy undertone,

"I know, Xanatos, and let's just say I really want to get my talons into you."

Xanatos could only give a blank face.

* * *

In a side alley to the museum, a rather bored and disinterested security guard rolled on the balls of his feet as he glanced up and down the nearly deserted and shadowed alley, doubtful his position here was necessary and a waste of his time and the company's resources. But the pay was decent enough, even with an added on 20% bonus at the end of the night, so he didn't complain too much.

However, the guard still couldn't help but think the sudden increase in extra security for this overrated upper crust party full of haughty rich people was total overkill and paranoid, despite insistence from Xanatos and police authorities. Still, if he can make it through the night without nodding off and get his check and his bonus, then he was good.

He gave a bit of a yawn, took another sip of his fourth cup of coffee and stretched his shoulders a moment before he thought he heard a pained cry from one of the undercover officers at the mouth of the alley. Looking to the opening he didn't really see anything, but something just crept him out as everything suddenly took on a thicker silence and he became certain he wasn't alone and being watched by inhuman eyes.

He took a hold of his still holstered gun and took a small half step away from the door, on the alert and ready for anything. Well, almost anything.

He looked up and down the alley again, trying to watch the scene like a hawk, when the next moment, a rather big and burly masked man just appeared out of thin air right in front of him, making him give a faint cry before he drew his gun at the man.

"No need for that, dude," he said mockingly in a roughened voice, "You're relieved of duty, rent-a-cop. You're on, Sparky."

The security guard could only be momentarily confused and scared, when suddenly he felt a painful shock like a powerful tazer on his shoulder, making him cry out in pain before he fell to the ground and blacked out.

"God, Spike," 'Sparky' complained, "How many times do I freakin' have to tell ya not ta call me that, it's so lame and stupid, call me Elektro."

"Are you kiddin' me?" scoffed their masked leader, "That's even worse, namin' yerself after a comic book bad guy. Try bein' more original, ya loser."

"That's why it's got a k in it," 'Sparky' shot back.

"Whatever," Spike scoffed again, "Just fry that control panel."

'Sparky' tried to muster up another spark from his hand as he touched the panel but nothing happened except a few small sparks crackled and faded, and he just breathed in frustration as he shot at Spike,

"I can't, I told you I wasn't given enough 'Scura. I need more right now if we're gonna hit it big and hit those rich bastards hard tonight."

"You'll get more _after_ we're done, ya whinin' pussy," Spike just brushed him off and looked to another member of his robbery gang and ordered him, "Melt it, Greasy."

"It's Greaser," AJ's friend corrected Spike as he touched the panel and it melted into a metallic slug, disabling the alarm and other high tech state of the art security system connections.

Spike easily opened the door as another member of his robbery team code named Camouflage, or Camo for short, made everyone invisible to the naked eye as he bent the light around their figures and went through the door, and weren't even seen by the inside security cameras.

Spike took out a walkie-talkie from his belt and signaled to the other teams, "We're in."

A response from two other teams confirmed they too had gotten in undetected and were ready to make the next move.

The whole time, the fifth member of Spike's team, a masked AJ just went along like a mindless drone, drifting through the whole situation like he a mote of dust adrift in the air, though he just wanted this whole thing over and done with so he can get out of Radar's slimy grip.

Now that they were in, he knew he had to be on fully focused and alert. Drawing his weird if bitchin' laser weapon, he followed the others through the access halls of the museum and to the maintenance halls that lead to the main exhibit halls.

Unknown to AJ or his accomplices, a familiar acquaintance had seen where he had gone, and knew he now had to signal his leader.


	5. Chapter 5

****Labyrinth, some hours prior

Sunset had come and gone to give way to night, and Talon had gotten very little sleep during the day due to much worrying and planning. Maggie tried all she could to comfort him, and she was successful to some degree as Talon just tried to breath and keep a cool head and had returned home with only scraps of a plan in the works.

As he told his less than stellar and under developed plan so far to Maggie, Claw, Al, and Thug, they all just gave him uncertain looks though they were still supportive and willing to help.

"It's good to know you won't be alone in this, Derek," Maggie said with some worry, "even with Captain Chavez and the police on the inside, but I can't help but feel this contingency plan is lacking."

"I know, Maggie," Talon said wearily, "And if things go wrong, and I'm sure they will, we'll need to do more than just fly in fists a-zappin' when things go downhill. I need all the help I can get, but I can't risk your safety right now."

He held her close and gently touched at her small baby bump.

"Thanks, Honey," she said with a smile, "But I meant consider taking more of the clan with you."

"Delilah's coming, so don't worry," he reassured her, "But I can't yet risk taking the rest of them out on a dangerous patrol just yet. I want to give them a little more time to 'grow up', and after what Hollywood went through the other night, it's clear he isn't ready yet."

"Maybe you're right, but I still think you need more to your team."

It was then three more arrived to join in the planning and conversation; Delilah arrived with a determined looking Malibu who walked hard up to Talon and declared,

"I come help back up team, bring friend AJ home."

"I apologize, Talon," Delilah said, "He heard about the plan to be back up for the Captain Chavez and won't listen to reason."

"I help find AJ," Malibu declared again with a granite hard tone.

It was also at that moment another gargoyle seemed to join the group in a hurry and said with his thick Scottish brogue,

"Talon, I need to speak with ye right away, 'tis a matter of some urgency."

"I know, Hudson," Talon breathed with some frustration, "I'm putting together a team right now to take to Xanatos' little shindig."

"Ah, aye, his 'charity' gathering," Hudson groaned with some reserved doubt, "But that nae be what I needs to speak with ye about. I don't know if Elisa has called to warn ye yet, but I felt this unshakable need to come down and check on Hollywood and warn yer clan of another possible threat to the city, one I'm sure you'll find most disturbin'. Just the other night, I was confronted by a most ghastly creature."

"Another rogue Halfling?" Talon partially snarked.

"Nae, Talon," Hudson growled a bit, "And this be no laughing matter as it has frightened Elisa in a way I ne'er seen her before, for the creature be a skinwalker."

Talon's wings actually quivered at the name and he just went dead silent.

"What's a skinwalker?" Al asked, scratching his head, "Sounds creepy."

"Which be why me clan has taken to calling this beastie the Creeper, to make a long story short," Hudson said.

"I always thought they were just stories to scare kids," Talon said low with some lingering apprehension, "As if I didn't have enough problems already."

"But, what skinwalker?" Malibu asked with curiosity.

" _Never_ say that word," Talon growled, which just further confused everyone, save for Hudson, "It's forbidden to say that name, especially in the Navajo culture."

"Aye, and the naming practice still vexes me to this day," Hudson grumbled.

"We'll talk about it later," Talon finally declared as he remembered the real issue, "I'm actually glad you're here, Hudson, even if I wanted to keep anyone from your clan Topside out of this I could use your help. I'm putting together a contingency team to take to Xanatos' party because AJ has fallen in with a gang of punks who may work for a crime lord only known as Radar, and I'm really shorthanded. Problem is a lot of us aren't really all that experience fighters."

"Brothers and me fighters," Malibu said defensively, "Take us to help and find friend AJ."

Talon gave a stern scowl to the green skinned gargoyle, but he just glared back at his leader unwilling to back down.

"I'm still upset and disappointed with you disobeying me to not go on a wild goose chase, Malibu," Talon lectured, "which is why you're staying down here."

"No," Malibu refused, "I say I sorry for disobeying, and Talon good master and better leader. Teaches me and brothers to think for ourselves, and I think for myself to find AJ because he my friend and I want to make sure he no get into trouble. Hudson teaches tracking to me and brothers and I go tracking AJ after he leave, and I find him. Hudson say it part of Gargoyle Way and gargoyles protect, and I gargoyle and I protect."

Despite Malibu's rather awkward use of language and way of talking, there was no denying his determination and passion, as well as his somewhat misguided and flawed logic, though Talon was not yet willing to relinquish his own stance on Malibu's disobedience from the other night; clearly telling him not to go after AJ by himself, but he did anyway. While Talon appreciated Malibu coming straight back to the Labyrinth before sun up, and finding AJ, he was still mad and disappointed at the young Gargoyle for his possible careless actions.

"And it's because of that disobedience why I want you and your brothers to stay here, because you're clearly not ready to really be part of a dangerous mission like this. You and your brothers still have a lot of maturing to do before any of you are ready to be on a patrol in the Labyrinth or on the surface, even by yourselves, which you're clearly not."

"I mature!" Malibu just argued back, "You let Delilah go to Gargoyle gathering in faraway place by herself!"

"Because I disobeyed Talon," Delilah said defensively, "And I had to face the consequences for it, Brother. I didn't understand other clans are not yet ready to meet our clan, nor is our clan ready to show ourselves to the world. But this is different, and that is what you must understand."

"I know it different," Malibu just continued to argue, "But Talon no be fair, no understand I mature. Brothers not ready, but I am."

"No, you're not!" growled Talon, making Malibu growl back at him and they were practically in each other's faces.

"Enough, both of you!" Hudson boomed as he pushed them apart, "You're _both_ acting like hatchlings."

He took a deep breath as he continued, "Now, Talon, lad, you're clearly shorthanded for this mission and you said you needed all the help you can get. If this is the team you're taking, I question some of your choice for able bodied warriors."

"Actually, I'm leaving Maggie behind and in charge with help from Al and Thug here. So far it's me, Claw, and Delilah for the team."

"And now I'll be lending me sword and skill to this team now. But from what I see, lad, ye still need all the help you can get, and I say let the boy come for he clearly is eager to prove himself and needs the experience."

Talon could only scowl at this, while a rather smug grin lit Malibu's beak until Hudson turned to him and said with a hard strictness,

"And you, boy, you will do well to follow your leader, for he is right in that you still have much maturing to do, for there will be no room for brash recklessness if you don't heed his words. Do you understand, Malibu?"

Malibu seemed to sink into himself a bit as he looked at Hudson in the eye, then to Talon who gave him a hard scowl, and to Delilah who also gave him a look of 'you-should-have-listened-to-me.'

Too stubborn to back down, he mustered up some determination behind any shame he may have felt as he said, "Yes, Hudson, I understand. I obey Talon."

Talon softened only an iota as he instructed, "You'll _follow_ my lead, there's a difference between following and obeying. Your determination to protect and help others, especially AJ, is admirable, Malibu, but you need to control your brashness or you'll get yourself or someone else hurt. There'll be rules to follow on this mission, such as if I tell you to do something or not you'll follow those orders."

"Yes, Talon," Malibu complied with a surprising at attention stance, almost like a solider as he did a bit of an awkward salute.

Hudson gave a proud smile, as did Talon.

Some very long hours later, all Malibu could do was watch the big building from his assigned position atop a neighboring building. While mostly extremely boring, and all he wanted to do was quickly go in and grab his friend and bring him home, Talon and Hudson told him to be patient and vigilant and he didn't want to let them down.

At last he had seen a group of masked humans in a side alley to the 'moo-see-uhm', as his leader called it, and he took an old looking but small walkie-talkie from his belt to signal his leader. For a moment he forgot how it worked, but then pressed the right button as it gave a static sounding hiss and he spoke into it,

 _Hsst._ "Talon, it Malibu. I now saw one group of bad robbers go in side door, took out security guard after appearing and now go invisible again. I follow now?"

His box hissed again for a moment as he waited a long second for his leader to respond, torn between a need to jump into action and self control to wait for instructions.

He heard it hiss again and Talon's voice responded, " _Affirmative, Malibu, stay as close to them as you can, but be sure to_ keep out of sight _until I give a signal, understood?"_

"Yes, Leader Talon," Malibu responded with compliance, "I follow, and not let anybody see me."

He reattached his walkie-talkie to his belt as he glided with a quiet whoosh on the air into the side alley. He then gently touched the guard's neck in a place where a pulse was supposed to be and he felt a faint rhythm on his fingers. This meant the guard was still alive and might be okay, so Malibu quietly entered the side door, climbed up the wall and onto the ceiling to keep out of sight.

He slowly crawled upside down on his way down the hall, even came across a security camera and froze for a moment as it slowly moved from side to side to survey the hallway. Malibu unplugged its wires and it went still, and continued on his way down the hall on the ceiling, keeping a sharp eye out and intently listened for any humans who might see him, or where the group of robbers might have gone.

* * *

Meanwhile, in a quiet corner, the host of the charity benefit could only be stiffly silent as his most trusted major domo as he got confronted by a police captain.

"That's quite a strong choice of words, Captain," Xanatos said calmly as he took a small sip of his champagne.

"Then you know I mean serious business," she said with the same cold tone, "and I understand business is one of your strongest fortes."

"Of course," Xanatos smiled, "Though I like to pride myself as a man of many talents."

"Trickery and deceit among them, I bet."

Xanatos just gave a raised eyebrow, but he knew what Chavez was getting at.

"He came to me to give me an anonymous tip about the possible threat to this fundraiser, and I see he risked a lot. He told me _everything_. I can't arrest you for what you've done, Xanatos, due to no warrant on me and lack of sufficient evidence. So this is personal."

Her cold demeanor didn't let up and actually made Xanatos uncomfortable, though he continued to appear calm and cool himself.

He just gave a bit of a sigh as he looked at Maria straight in the eye and gave what he hoped was a genuine look of sincerity as he told her with the same sincerity and some reassurance,

"Then you should realize this is all for his benefit, and those like him, as well as a fundraiser for the homeless."

Maria just continued to look at him with a stone faced cold glare as she crossed her arms, a concrete hardness surrounding her as an impenetrable aura of an arctic ice wall. Yet beneath it was a woman of reason and some skepticism, a woman of the law and seeker of justice, but most importantly beneath that was a friend and mentor looking out for her own.

"That may be all well and said," she said with her still present cold tone, "But I want to know why."

Xanatos glanced away for only a moment, his mind clear yet racing with memories and answers to say until he finally said,

"That's a question I've asked myself from time to time, and I always answered myself with because I could. I always had a mind for business, and acquisition became a goal in and of itself, which included my current residence, its former occupants and now my current guests. When things didn't turn out the way I had expected with them I turned to other means to fill in the gap, including Mr. Maza's current situation as you could see."

"So you turned him and bunch of other innocent people into freaks of nature because you wanted your own personal monster squad?" Maria said low through nearly gritted teeth, hot anger seethed through her coldness.

Xanatos remained silent, which spoke volumes to Maria, yet she saw a small glimmer of true remorse in his eyes beneath his usual arrogant demeanor.

"I don't blame you for how you might feel about me now, Captain," he said calmly and reasonably, "You're not the first. I admit that I used to never really consider the wellbeing of others to get what I wanted or even where I am today, especially in my younger days when I was…less disciplined and more of the spoiled wild party playboy. But ever since I had my son, I've had to do a lot of soul searching. Hmph, maybe even longer ever since my good friend Hudson asked me what kind of legacy I wanted to leave behind in my ambitious search for immortality. So, now I use my wealth and influence in pursuit of the greater good as I am now in the position of the greatest responsibility I've ever had; fatherhood."

He became momentarily pensive as he thought of something else as he said low Maria barely heard him, "And I supposed to prove something to my own father as well."

Maria's posture softened only a few degrees and was about to say something else when suddenly there came a sudden series of loud clattering gunshots as though from a military arms weapon, followed by shouts and screams of fear from the crowd in the museum wing.

Maria held back a cry as Xanatos whirled to try and see the source of the sudden gunshots as he dropped his champagne glass, and it shattered faintly into small crystalline bits, and rushed into the crowd with Maria following closely.

"This is a robbery, ladies and gentlemen!" a roughen voice announced loudly as groups of at least two dozen or more men, all in ski masks, scarves around their faces, or Halloween masks to conceal their faces seemed to appear out of nowhere and in random places, all carrying hand held weapons from familiar Glocks to illegal military grade, and Xanatos even eyed a few 'misplaced' and familiar non-projectile weapons.

People gave frightful cries as members of the robbing gang appeared even right next to them where they thought was only a catering server or another party attendant.

As the crowd of party attendants crowded tightly together for protection as the gang of robbers held dangerous weapons close to their heads, or at threatening and dangerous angles to make it unpredictable of where a shot could hit, Xanatos got into playing the surprised and uninformed host as he walked up hard to the masked man who made the announcement of a robbery and whom he assumed was the leader as he demanded,

"What the hell is going here?!"

The gang leader, Spike gave Xanatos a hard look as he just hit the slightly taller man backhanded on the head with his gun, making Xanatos give a pained grunt as he rolled with the hit and fell to the floor. However, the hit had still been painful and was enough to leave the beginnings of a bruise beneath a bloodied cut.

"Shut yer pie hole, rich man," Spike sneered as Chavez helped Xanatos back up to his feet as he gave her a look to not do anything yet, and Spike continued to boast,

"This is a charity party, so we're here to ask for donations to our own worthy cause, so give 'til it hurts, ladies and germs."

"I'm not giving up my grandmother's rubies to scumbags like you, you bastard," Margot Yale, with her blond hair up in a bun and wearing a silk red dress the same color as her necklace and dangling earrings, declared loudly and overly boldly from the crowd.

Spike eyed her as he ordered one of his followers, "Sparky, show the nice lady here what'll happens if nobody gives nuthins."

'Sparky' gave a frustrated grunt as he grumbled, "It's 'Elektro.'"

He then held up his hand right into Margot's face as an electric spark danced between his thumb and pointer finger, so close the deadly sparks could have been enough to burn her eyes and blind her.

"Aah!" she cried as jumped into Brandon's arms for protection and tried to look away.

"Leave us alone!" he challenged.

Spike's lips tightened into a smirk as he announced loudly, "Show these rich snobs what you can do, boys!"

All around, at least more than a dozen members of the gang showed off their new super powers; one member in a cheesy Nixon mask made his whole arms alight with flames, another in a tacky and garish purple and yellow ski mask made his whole body increase in mass and his skin became shining metallic armor, and yet another in a scary clown mask lifted up a museum display as though it were nothing and thew it half way through the wing to make the crowd disperse more and avoid being crushed by the exhibit as it shattered and broke, and all around more members of the robbery gang showed off more powers and each seemed even more bizarre than the last.

As the crowd gave more murmurs and cries of fear and shock, Spike just smirked even more dangerously as he announced loudly again,"So you sees, ladies and germs, we've gots the edge, even wit' all dem coppers we know is crawlin' around here. And 'cause this is a charity party, we'll be 'charitable' when youse gives to our 'worthy cause' of nobodies gettin' hurts, capiche? So fill'ers up 'til the bags are full!"

So, gang members who held bags went around the crowd of their would-be hostages for them to surrender their money, jewelry, and other valuables.

As one member, AJ, went up to Xanatos and Chavez and waited for them to give up their valuables, Xanatos seemed to take his time to search his pockets as she said calmly and casually,

"I admit, this isn't quite the turn out I was expecting for this party. In fact, I had expected something a bit different."

"Shut up, old man," AJ snapped as his voice cracked a bit, trying to keep apprehension and nervousness out of his voice, "Just gimme whatever dough you have on you."

"In a moment, son, I seem to have misplaced it," Xanatos smirked a bit as he searched his pants pockets, then seemed to joke, "You know what, I seem to have left my wallet in my other pants."

Through his arrogant and calm smirking, he gave a glance to Chavez again, hoping she knew what to do next. Giving her own blank face glance to him, she slowly began to reach behind herself.

AJ seemed to shake from growing nervousness as he held his weapon practically in Xanatos's face as he snapped out,

"Stop screwing with me, old man, and no tricks. Just gimme all your dough and nobody gets hurt."

In a secluded and yet well lit corner, a realistic looking monster statue watched what unfolded and finally when all the humans were occupied, he signaled to his team leader they should make a move now if there was a chance of stopping the robbers.

"We're ready up top, Hudson," Talon responded, "But let's give Captain Chavez and the undercover police a chance first. When things really get hairy, we'll make our move."

Hudson wasn't so sure, but for the moment remained patient and at the ready. For that moment, a human woman in the crowd seemed to glance behind her at a still Hudson, but just shrugged it off as one of the robbers approached her and others in the crowd and she had to give up her jewelry.

At the same moment, Xanatos finally gave up an expensive leather wallet, which was merely a disposable decoy to him, to a jittery AJ as he continued to hold him and Chavez at gun point.


	6. Chapter 6

The redeeming billionaire could see something in the younger man, and said calmly and reasonably to him, "I see you don't really want to do this, young man, so you can give up now and walk away from this with some dignity and maybe your life in tacked."

"Shut up, rich man," AJ spat out, "You don't know nothin', I have no choice."

"There's always a choice," Xanatos tried to reason with him, "and there's still a chance to make the right one. Like you, I've made some questionable and less than admirable choices."

"Shut up, just shut up!" AJ spat again with growing irritation and anger, "You almost sound like that damn cat man from that underground hell hole."

Xanatos just gave a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, that's right," AJ smirked under his ski mask, "I saw you down there, I know you're all buddy buddy with Talon."

Xanatos just said nothing more, and AJ turned his attention to Chavez as she gave a hard neutral look with one hand behind herself.

"You, lady," he snapped as he held his gun at her, "Gimme your valuables, and you don't have your brains splattered all over the museum."

Part of him immediately regretted what he just said and did, as in the next half second she had her own gun drawn and declared loudly with authority,

"Drop your weapons! You're all under arrest!"

At that signal, as least as many undercover police officers equal to the number of the gang of robbers revealed what they really were as they drew their own weapons from the crowd of would be robbed hostages of party attendants, catering staff, and museum security.

Various loud shouts of "Drop it! On the ground, now! Freeze! Put your hands where I can see them! Don't make a move!" came throughout the wing of the museum as powerless members of the thieving gang did as demanded by the now revealed undercover cops, while others just shrugged and wondered what to do or scoffed.

A masked Spike just scoffed at the turn of events as though it was all just some big joke, but the punchline was on the police.

"I told you we gots the edge, coppers," he sneered with a dark amusement, "But clearly ya gots wax in yer ears and didn't hears me, so if it's a fights ya wants, a fights ya'll gets."

Spike flexed his body and all of a sudden made dozens of sharp and long metallic spurs burst from his skin, hence showing the reason for his street name.

"Let 'em have it, guys!" he yelled with gusto as he gave a maniacal laugh as the once celebratory event now exploded into a near miniature war zone.

"Get down! Hit the dirt! Watch out!" were shouted by undercover officers as they put themselves between the super powered and armed gang robbers as shots were fired and scenes from a comic book came to life and went crazy.

One cop, Phil Travanti, who had been undercover as a catering server got burnt as he put himself between people and the Nixon masked member as his arms ignited with scorching flames and shot fireballs at innocent by standers.

Another, Detective Matt Bluestone, who had been dressed as a party attendee took shots at the now bulked up and metallic skinned member of the gang, but the bullets just bounced and ricocheted off of him and he just back slapped Bluestone and he hit a far wall and was knocked out cold.

Another, Officer Morgan, who had also dress in his civies in a formal tuxedo as a party attendee had managed to bring a couple of the un-powered members down and cuffed them safely out of the way, but as he came close to bringing down another gang member in a werewolf mask, the masked robber turned suddenly to bring his mask up and literally blew a pungent gray green gas right into the officer's face and making him cry out in pain and surprise as he became blinded and tried to cover his face.

The werewolf masked robber then blew thicker billowing gas right into the faces of any nearby by standing hostages for the hell and fun of it as they too cried out in surprise and pain, and while they covered their faces and writhed in pain he helped himself to their valuables and put them into his bag.

A female undercover officer, Officer Quinn, who dressed as another catering server, got a few shots at a few un-powered members of the would be thieving gang, but then one of their superpowered comrades came between her and her would be targets, a punk with a dark blue bandana tied around his lower face, AJ's friend Buster, and holding a heavy looking table to shield his friends from a few stray slugs. A half second later, with a mighty heave he threw the table at Quinn and she made a hasty leap out of the way before it crashed right where she had been moments before.

As all this and more chaos burst out around them, Chavez grabbed Xanatos by his collar and commanded him, "Get down!"

She pulled him down to the floor with her a second after he seized a masked AJ's gun and his arm and gave it a painful twist to loosen his grip and punch him in the face. Unfortunately, a shot went off and grazed near Xanatos' shoulder but he barely noticed anything.

As cries and yells of fear reverberated around the museum wing of historic crime and law keeping, there came a loud shattering of glass, wood and plaster as three winged figures descended into the growing chaos while two more appeared seemingly from out of nowhere, one gave a fierce roaring battle cry as he leaped from his observing place.

"RRRAAAARRGGH!" Talon roared with a mix of a big cat and a man's battle cry as he, Claw, and Delilah landed among the chaos as Hudson fiercely and gracefully leaped from his observing post and Malibu seemed to appear from out of nowhere as he ran on all fours into the museum wing on a signal from Talon.

"Friend AJ!" Malibu called out as he rapidly looked around at the growing fighting, "Friend AJ, where are you?!"

"Oh, crap!" Spike cursed, "Not these guys!"

The leader of the party crashing gang took aim at Malibu, who was only ten meters away, but the green gargoyle saw this and rapidly ran on at all fours at Spike as he gave a growl and his eyes glowed a hostile red. With uncanny speed Malibu leaped upon Spike and grabbed his wrist as a shot went off and they began to struggle against each other's strength.

"Where AJ?!" Malibu demanded hotly at Spike.

"Get offa me, ya freak!" Spike practically snarled as he and Malibu did a double arm wrestle and tested their strength against each other.

"I no freak, you the freak!" Malibu declared angrily as he steadily got the edge over Spike, but then he let out a cry of painful surprise as he felt a few small but painful pricks in his hand as Spike willed small needle sharp protrusions from his skin and Malibu released his grip from the powered up human.

Malibu held his left wrist as he saw several small bright red pricks in his palm, and while surprised and confused for a few moments, it didn't last long as remembered the danger and instinct to protect broke through in him again.

His eyes just glowed an angry red again as he gave a challenging growl and launched himself at Spike again as the thug took aim at Malibu again with his personal weapon, but it was destroyed as Malibu easily crushed it as he grabbed Spike's hand again and this time got the surprise on the gang leader as the green clone remembered defense moves he and his brothers and sister were taught by Talon.

With his underdeveloped skills and raw if unfocused gargoyle strength, Malibu used the palm of his hand and hit where he hoped was Spike's nose behind his ski mask, completely surprising him and as he gave a pained cry and reached for his face. But Malibu took a chance for another move and punched Spike right in the gullet, making him roll and keel over as he fell to the cold floor to catch himself as Malibu just elbowed Spike in the head and knocked him out cold.

The hundreds of sharp needle like protrusions retracted back into his skin as he lay there, and Malibu would have beaten him further into a pulp as he was getting high on adrenaline but Officer Quinn rushed up and cuffed the unconscious Spike as she said quickly,

"Whoa there, easy, street fighter, I think you got him. You did good, okay, it was totally rad. I'll take him to jail now, okay?"

At first Malibu didn't know what to do or say as he just stopped short of nearly punching an officer. He just breathed to calm down and gave a nod as he said,

"Lock bad guy up so he no hurt more humans again. Police girl do good, too, I go find my friend."

"I'll help you find him," Quinn offered as she cuffed Spike and moved him up against a wall with a few other captured members of the robbery gang, "What's his name?"

"He AJ, and he my friend," Malibu said.

"Okay, let's find him."

They both separated as the fighting continued around them, Malibu doing his best to bring down robbers as he searched for his human friend.

In another corner of the museum wing, Brandon and Margot huddled tightly and closely together on the cold floor as they were being held at gun point by a punk in a gruesome zombie mask and using a strange power of creating sharp and deadly weapons out of some kind of energy as he made a stark orange colored long bladed knife with his other hand.

"Give up, bitches," he declared with a roughed male voice, "Gimme everything you got and nobody gets hurt."

Margot, fiery and tough as she usually was, now was genially fearful for her and her husband's lives and hadn't felt this afraid since that time they were taken hostage by an unknown group of terrorists.

"C'mon already!" their captor demanded with growing impatience.

Margot just gave a faint trembling moan as she slowly reached for her ruby necklace, highly reluctant to surrender a family heirloom. But before she removed them, the masked thug got so impatience he just yelled angrily,

"Hurry it up, bitch!"

And a shot went off, making Margot give a cry of fear as Brandon held her close. But the slug never even touched her as a microsecond before a large form stepped between them and the would be assailant, a large form whose sword the slug just bounce off of and ricocheted off into a far wall.

"There'll be none o' that tonight, laddie," Hudson declared bravely as he came between the humans and the superpowered masked robber who went wide eyed at his new challenger and Hudson smirked a bit as he said low and a bit challenging,

"Come on then, laddie, show me what pluck ye've got."

The zombie masked thug brought his gun up into Hudson's face, but with decades of warrior honed instincts and reflexes, Hudson brought Viking steel up in a flash and sliced cleanly through the gun's barrel and it fell smoothly to the floor, making the thug drop the butt and bring his orange energy blade up and try to strike the old gargoyle soldier and Hudson just blocked it with his own sword.

As much as the thug tried to muster some strength and leverage against his larger and stronger opponent, Hudson just side swiped the human's energy blade and punched him hard enough to knock him out as he fell to the floor.

He then turned to the two familiar humans and held out a hand to Margot as he asked gentlemanly, "Are ye alright?"

"I…I think so," Margot mumbled into Brendon's shoulder with lingering shock as she and Brandon slowly reached for Hudson's awaiting hand and gently grasped it as she continued to with some growing relief and gratitude,

"Thank you, sir, I really tho…Ohhh!"

Margot's eyes went wide eyed as she lifted her face up and saw who their rescuer truly was and she was just shocked and bewildered all at once. She pulled her hand out of Hudson's gentle grasp and seemed to cringe at the very thought of being touched by a gargoyle, a creature she feared above all else and knew to be a menace in the city.

"Uggh! How do you monsters keep showing up everywhere?" she cried with a disgusted groan.

Hudson just seemed to roll his eyes at the Assistant District Attorney, having seen her kind of reaction too many times in his lifetime.

"Ach, hear this, lass," he said with a scold as he held a sharp talon near her face like she was a child, "Ye really need to get over your fear driven delusions if you don't want to keep ending up in this kind of predicament."

Margot and Brendon were just speechless as they stared at Hudson as he turned to leave but was nearly attacked and ambushed by another member of the robbing gang in a scary clown mask as he tried to ram into the old burly gargoyle with a long metal bar, but Hudson just side stepped and made the clown masked punk flip over as he seized the metal bar from him and the punk crashed into a wall and slid down with a faint pained moan.

In another corner, Brando Dracon used himself to shield his escort, Clarice, who was grateful to him but in his mind he had paid for her and didn't want to deal with her disappointed boss back in Chicago should something happen to her.

As he faced the metallic skinned robber in the purple and yellow ski mask, he told him boldly and with some arrogant over confidence,

"Kid, you have no idea who you're messing with."

"Yes, I do," the metallic skinned robber said with a voice just as metallic sounding as the rest of himself, "I'm screwin' with rich snobs like you, robbin' from the rich to give to the poor like me, and all with bangin' super powers. So hand over your cash, Daddy Morebucks, and I don't punch your guts out or your little girlfriend."

Brando began to reach for his inside coat pocket, but not for his pocketbook; he was reaching for a concealed weapon.

But before he could draw it, a metal bar hit the masked robber on the head from behind and before he could turn around to confront his would be attacker he suddenly gave off a loud scream of pain as electric bolts surged and sparked around his body and lit it to a light orange color as he seemed to heat up. After a few seconds, he finally gave a groan as he seemed to slowly return to a normal human form and fell to his knees and then flat on his face as his whole body lightly smoked with thin wisping tendrils and behind him were revealed two strange creatures that made Brando go wide eyed.

A winged black panther breathing heavily as his fur stood on end and a tan colored she demon creature with white hair and wings holding the metal bar and with an eerily familiar face he couldn't quite put his finger on.

"Ooohh, that took way more outta me than I thought," Talon said through his heavy breathing as he leaned over on his knees, and Delilah just gave him a look with a raised browridge.

They both then eyed Brando and his lovely escort as the humans didn't know what to make of their unusual rescuers, but Talon just said dryly,

"Never thought I'd have to save this guy. You're welcome, by the way, *Mr.* Dracon."

Talon and Delilah walked away from Brando as he just eyed them with a cold blank expression, yet beneath that the same discomfort and cringing he felt from earlier with Xanatos grew and swelled more as his brain tried to make sense of everything, and oddly one thing came to him he never expected to understand; maybe in some way Anthony had been right. At least about some of it.

He helped Clarice up as he told her with finality, "We're leaving."

No questions were asked as they tried to make their way inconspicuously out of the museum.

In another nearby area of the museum wing, Fox and the guests she had been chatting with had been confronted by a Ragan masked robber with a strange ability to create illusions and make peoples' fears look real and tangible. While Fergus, Shari, Hiruko, and Chio had already surrendered their personal valuables and quivered from whatever fears they were seeing, for some reason Fox only appeared nervous if calm and disciplined as she saw an illusion of Oberon holding her precious Alex flicker in and out of reality of the masked hooligan.

"You're that tough broad, right?" the illusion creating hooligan asked with a smirk behind the illusion Fox saw, "From that show 'The Pack', right? I loved that show when I was kid, big fan. I'd love an autograph, but I don't have time for that now, so this is nothin' personal."

"Oh, I'm sure it's not," Fox mumbled behind her teeth as she gave up her diamond jewelry, and seemed to eye a large orange and black form behind the robber.

Claw gave the robber a light tap on the shoulder and as he turned, the tiger mutate saw illusions of either Sevarius or Fang, but he didn't even flinch or become paralyzed with fear. Instead he just gave a fierce and furious roar at the illusion as though to release some years of bottled up emotional pain filled scars.

The robber's illusions actually faded and now he gave a small shriek of fear at the new and larger creature, and Claw just gave a mild shock at the hooligan and made him stumble back a couple of steps to only get kicked hard from behind by Fox and get knocked out cold.

As Fox straightened out her dress she gave a smile to Claw, and he returned it with a feline smile and a small salute as he disappeared into the surrounding chaos while Fox's guests could only look at her in awe.

As all of this and more happened around a fallen AJ, he finally shook off the swimming dizziness in his head as he removed his mask and felt a black eye forming on his face. He looked at Captain Chavez looking over and assessing a hurt Xanatos nearby, but he wasn't about to stick around.

He picked himself up from the floor and began to try finding a way out of this shindig before some crazy loser cops caught him.

"Hey you, stop!" the lady cop with Xanatos shouted at him, "You're under arrest!"

"Not today, lady cop!" AJ shouted as he disappeared into the crowd, "We'll have to go on a date another time!"

Chavez gave a scoff as she helped Xanatos patch his wound as he said with a snark, "They all get away at some point, but in the end they get their just desserts."

Xanatos smirked at his joke, but Chavez just rolled her eyes at him.

Over the next few minutes, several things happened simultaneously as AJ tried to fight his way through the nearly panicked crowd as his friends and so-called teammates got brought down and captured by undercover cops or used whatever abilities they had and ran to save themselves.

Talon had run over to Chavez and Xanatos, followed close behind by Delilah, out of concern for his former commanding officer and seeing his begrudging benefactor possibly hurt if unfazed by the situation as he asked,

"Are you two okay?"

"We'll be fine," Chavez assured him hastily, "We need to get this under control, so we'll take things from here. Thanks for your help."

Talon gave a quick nod as Delilah then brought his attention to the crowd as she said, "I think I see AJ, he's trying to get away."

Talon barely spotted him in the nearly panicking crowd as the young street punk pushed his way through. He tripped on a shattered glass display and held back a cry of pain as he felt sharp pieces of broken glass cut through this clothes and into his skin. Something clear and shiny but unbroken then caught his eye and he reached for a strangely but symmetrically shaped object that looked like some kind of glass stone.

AJ momentarily looked it over and it had to be some kind of diamond that was part of the museum exhibits, and it had to be worth something.

Pocketing it into his ripped jacket he tried to carefully push himself back up onto his feet and find a way out as he heard a familiar voice call out,

"AJ! Friend AJ!"

He looked back out to the crowd and saw a familiar gargoyle calling and looking frantically around for him, and Malibu finally eyed him and called out eagerly,

"AJ! It me, Malibu! I help bring you home!"

"Green bean?" AJ breathed low with confusion, but just ran for the nearest exit he could find, certain he was going to be home free, while Malibu felt Talon grip his shoulder and say with authority,

"We have to go, let the police handle this."

"But AJ…" Malibu protested.

"We'll find him, I promise he won't get far. Now let's go," Talon commanded, and Malibu followed his team with a grudge but knew Talon was right.

AJ had run out the first door he saw and out into the open to find a place to lay low for a few days until this whole screw up blew over, but instead ran into the last people he expected.

Just outside the museum, a long black limo had been waiting for its owner to return to take him and his escort home from the party, and waiting next to it were a few well dressed but clearly burly men and one AJ knew well enough but wanted to avoid all together.

AJ tried to make a dash in a random direction, but Baby Face Frankie proved to be faster than AJ expected as he was grabbed by the scruff of his shirt roughly as Frankie said with a growing smugness,

"Well, well, look what we have here, boys, and uninvited guest. I never expected you to crash a party like this, punk, but somehow I'm not surprised as it's too tempting."

"Let go o' me, you sonavabitch!" AJ cried as he struggled to get away, but one of Frankie's men punched AJ right into his gut and he went limp.

"Not so fast punk, you still owe me a lot of money," Frankie declared as his men frisked and searched AJ's figure, finding the large diamond he had taken from the museum and going wide eyed.

"Fine, take it," AJ slurred as he spit up a bit of blood from his mouth, "That should be more than enough to make us square."

One of the men gently wrapped the Coyote Diamond into a clean handkerchief and inconspicuously put it into an inside jacket pocket as Frankie Nielson declared,

"Oh, it makes up for far more than your little brain can comprehend right now, punk. But it doesn't make us square, not yet."

Through AJ's disorientation he heard sirens of police cars and paramedics rapidly driving up to the museum as cars and medical vehicles stopped rapidly with screeching tires and wails. An army of police and SWAT officers began to rapidly appear and fill the area as a crowd of people from inside the museum were escorted outside by the undercover officers from the party, among them Xanatos and Chavez.

Frankie dragged dizzy and beaten AJ by his shirt as he shouted to a uniformed beat officer,

"Hey, officer, I just caught this snot nosed punk running out of the museum. He might've been trying to escape and he might be part of that gang of robbers I just heard about."

Frankie roughly threw AJ at the officer, who caught him and proceeded to roughly cuff him and took him to a police car for later booking.

From atop a museum roof top, two mutates and three gargoyles watched the newly arrived legion of police officers and medics as the crowd swelled with victimized party attendants and the undercover officers. Malibu looked around with an eagle eye trying to find AJ but he couldn't tell a lot of human apart in the crowd as he gave a bowed head of disappointment, and he felt Talon put a hand on his shoulder in reassurance and a look telling him it was time to go home.

Margot and Brandon were also among the victims officers and paramedics were trying to comfort as they escorted arrested robbery gang members to police vehicles or helped comfort other robbed victims.

"I never thought," Margot breathed, "…even here. They're truly an infestation."

"Give it a rest, Margot," Brandon groaned, "Be grateful we're alive. Besides, he saved our lives, maybe they're not all bad."

She gave her husband a cold glare as she said with a nearly equal cold tone, "You're such an idiot, Brendon."

Yet something stirred in the back of Margot's mind about that old gargoyle with the thick Scottish accent and grandfatherly nature to him.

Meanwhile, a black tinted window on the black window lowered a few inches as one of Frankie men then gingerly handed the tissue wrapped diamond to its occupant, Brando Dracon.

"Gentlemen," he said with pleased tone as he eyed the priceless jewel, "I think our luck has just changed for the better. Our mystery client is sure to be very pleased."

Back in the crowd of party goers and police, Captain Chavez helped Xanatos out as he held his injury arm, but he told her calmly,

"I'll be fine, I've had worse. You have a job to do, and I'll be here making sure everyone else is okay."

She gave him a stoic and skeptical look, but nodded to him as she left his side to speak with her people.

Xanatos looked around in the crowd and finally found Fox standing near the door way. She practically ran to him and they embraced each other tightly, relief washing over them.

As all this happened, a very unhappy AJ rode in the back of a police black and white, once more on his way for another spout of jail time.


	7. Chapter 7

****The next morning

Dawn finally came to Manhattan once more, and a rather groggy Xanatos gave a bit of a yawn as he entered his office for the day's business only to find an unexpected guest sitting in his chair.

"Quite the excitement last night, eh, Mr. Xanatos?" Agent Hacker quipped.

Xanatos just closed his office door as he went to his coffee maker to pour himself a cup of coffee as he said casually,

"Indeed it was. Although not all may have gone as I would've expected, I think things will work out in the end. The charity event really was just a charity event and I raised more than enough to continue funding Dr. Goldblum's research and the function of the homeless foundation I originally partnered with Reynard on before his passing, and I did as requested; asking some representatives from the organized crime syndicates to consider alternatives to fighting and violence."

"In a nutshell, the Society asked you to politely ask them to stop fighting," Hacker said dryly, "But being the hardheaded ambitious wild card that he is, Brando Dracon will continue his feud with the other syndicates. I suppose we'll also have to keep relying on the other agents to keep an eye on things and wait for the end results."

"Hopefully, before the city is turned into a wasteland," Xanatos quipped as he sipped his coffee, "I happen to like the lovely view from up here."

"Mm," Hacker moaned with dry amusement, "But despite the hiccups from last night, I'm here for different matters that may affect you personally, Mr. Xanatos."

He just gave a raised eyebrow to the FBI Illuminatus as Hacker removed a file folder from inside his jacket, placed it on Xanatos' desk and slid it over to him a bit.

"What's this?" Xanatos asked with suspicion.

"One of many files the Society has kept on you since you first received that medieval coin years ago," Hacker said casually.

Xanatos' face seemed to twist a bit as he huffed with indignity, "Can't a man have any privacy, especially from an all-knowing secret society?"

"Don't flatter yourself, Mr. Xanatos," Hacker scolded with some annoyance, "The Society keeps records on all its members, even the highest echelon members. In fact, there's records and backups on millions of people around the world, just in case. The Society has always been about acquiring knowledge and keeping balance with the world's political powers, but they don't go around revealing everything they know about everyone, otherwise we wouldn't be a _secret_ society. So, yes, you have some privacy, and what we know about you that you don't is shared only when deemed necessary."

"And for some reason you felt it necessary to share this with me now, all from the goodness of your hearts," Xanatos slurred with sarcasm.

"In a small sense, I suppose we are," Hacker told him, "We're not without some humanity or compassion, which is getting harder to find in people these days, and as an FBI agent I should know. But, I was also told this is something that has a lot to do with what happened last night, and our illustrious leaders felt now was the time to share this with you."

"So, what exactly is it?" Xanatos asked again.

"I suggest you open it to find out, as I don't know and it's none of my business. But, knowing you, Mr. Xanatos, whatever it is, I suggest you tread carefully once you know."

Xanatos put his coffee cup down and finally opened the file folder and to read its contents. For a few minutes, the office was silent as he read through it, his expression going from curious to confused, and finally to a rare feeling that took a lot to come over the suave billionaire to make his eyes go wide.

****Jail cell at the 23rd Precinct

AJ just laid on a hard metal bench with his arms cradling his head and one leg bent up, brooding and wallowing in his frustration and festering resentment at his situation, and aching from last night which showed all over his body with black and blue bruises and a black left eye.

But he could take it in stride, as it was nothing he hadn't gone through before as he had been to jail before. Yet he was all too well aware this had to be the worst crime he had ever committed and may face a far longer jail sentence than just over night or a few days; most likely months or even years. A thought he didn't want to think about, and it actually scared him.

Another weird thought was that the underground hell hole wasn't looking so bad now, and yet AJ wasn't sure to think if that was worse or not.

Whatever happens after now, he knew there was going to be hell to pay, and soon.

As he laid there contemplating his situation and considering what he would do if he ever got a chance to escape, he then heard the faint clicking of a key and the creak of his cell door opening as a burly and stone faced uniformed male officer opened it and gave him a hard look. AJ sat up as the officer stepped aside to reveal the lady cop he confronted with that Xanatos guy last night.

Begrudgingly he cooperated as Chavez put hand cuffs on him as she said, "Let's go, kid, someone paid your bail."

"My bail?" AJ said confused, "Who would do that? And if some loser I don't know paid my bail, why am I being cuffed?"

She just remained silent as she gave him a cold look he had seen before from plenty of cops, yet something was strangely different about her.

She began to drag him out of the precinct, and AJ expected to be taken to another police car or an armored van, but instead they went to a normal looking car and Chavez helped him into the front seat, confusing AJ to no end.

As she began to drive them through the city, AJ could see it was nearly sundown which made him realize he had been in the slammer for at least most of last night and then a day, more or less 36 hours.

Day light had faded as they drove through the city to give way to twilight as the faintest glowing of city lights radiated around them. But the scenery soon gave way to darker patches as Chavez drove them to a weird abandoned looking warehouse.

A chill went down AJ's spine as he became certain he was about to be wiped out by a crooked and corrupt cop woman working for Frankie because he had really pissed the guy off.

Instead Chavez told him, "Welcome home, kid, everyone's waiting inside."

AJ was still confused as she helped him out of the car and opened a side door into the warehouse where two familiar people waited for them, Talon's goons Thug and the old Al guy.

"What the hell's going on?" AJ demanded.

Nobody said a word as he was lead to a platform used for large deliveries and it turned out to be some kind of elevator that began a seemingly long descent.

They went down another tunnel AJ had never seen from the Labyrinth before, which he was now certain he was headed to, and still wondered what this was all about even though he was also silently glad he wasn't about to be wiped out by some mob hit man.

Finally, they all reached a large metallic door that seemed to hide a deep secret no one was to know about, but Al and Thug easily opened a small door for them all to walk through and AJ found himself in a cozy yet familiar place, and several familiar people waiting for him which surprised and confused him all the more.

"Welcome back, AJ," Talon said with clear but tempered anger in his rough voice and with his large arms crossed, "Did you enjoy your little outing, or would you prefer another few nights in jail?"

AJ would have given a smirk or snarky comment, but instead he gave a blank stare and remained silent. Talon nodded to Al and Thug and they left AJ with Captain Chavez and Talon, and curiously also Xanatos and the old gargoyle he had seen around called Hudson.

"What the hell's goin' on?" AJ asked curiously and grudgingly, "Whatever punishment you're gonna dish out to me, just get it over with. I know I screwed up big time this time, but it's just so I could get out from under Radar's damn thumb…"

"Save your excuses, kid," Talon stopped him, "I know about the Radar angle, and in a nutshell if you hadn't been so selfish and reckless in your actions you would've been safe here, even from him. If you cooperate with us now, you still can be."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means we're making you an offer," Chavez spoke up, "You have a choice to make now, Mr. Henderson, and what's been brought to my attention it shouldn't be difficult to make."

AJ just gave a confused look as he asked, "What do you mean? What's going on? Aren't you just gonna throw me into your high tech dungeon for a hundred years?"

"No," Talon said, "I just want to know more about why you did it in the first place."

AJ just gave a scoff as he said, "I just told you, I had to get out for what I owed Radar, and a guy called Baby Face Frankie because I owed him money for all the drugs he and his gang sold on the street for years." He then became resentful as he began to vent,

"None of you losers know what it's really like out there, or what I've been through my whole life. Ever since my mom died, I've been on my own. Sure, I lived in foster homes, but they were shit holes where I learned it's every guy for himself because my so-called fosters were too dumb, too drunk, or even neglectful or outright abusive because they used me or other kids and have their way with us. So, I ran away from the last one years ago and I've been on my own, which is how I liked it. The world is a shitty place and I used meth, heroine, and even coke to make it make less shitty. But none o' you losers know that because you're rich snobs living high on the hog in your gold and ivy towers, or castles in the sky, with the police to do their bidding and on their pay roll or bad ass monsters who don't take shit from nobody."

The small group gave looks to each other at what AJ just said, feeling sorry for him and what he had been through, but it was also clear he was mistaken about a lot.

"So you think you're the only one that had to face a harsh reality in the world," Talon said, "That you're the only one with troubles and problems."

AJ just glared at him.

"Take a good look at me, kid, what do you see?" Talon said as he spread his arms and wings a bit, "And look at Hudson, what do you see?"

AJ seemed to smirk as he said, "A couple o' bad ass monsters who don't take nothing from nobody and aren't scare o' nothing, you can do whatever you want."

Hudson and Talon looked at each other; Xanatos gave a bit of an amused smirk which they frowned at him.

"I wasn't always like this," Talon said, "I wasn't born with fur and wings; I was human like you once. And you're wrong, because of all this I can't do whatever I want; I have a lot to fear because of what I am. So does Hudson and his clan, and you need to understand it's because of what we are that we have a lot to fear."

"Why?" AJ asked with a snark, though he was surprised and genuinely curious, "If I looked like you guys, I wouldn't be afraid of anything, I'd get immediate respect."

"Och, I've heard such misguided words before," Hudson said gruffly with a wave of his hand, "More than I can say from young overly eager juveniles wanting to prove their gumption. And it's because 'o that I say you're nothing but talk and a cowardly miscreant."

"Cowardly?!" AJ snapped with insulted anger.

"Aye, cowdardly," Hudson said gruffly as he poked AJ hard in the chest, "Ye talk bold, but ye really know nothing o' conflict and truly facin' yer fears as ye've run away from them or say ye used mind alterin' drugs to numb yourself to the cruelties of reality. I've had to face many a foe in me long existence, and I still face 'em, and the most difficult to face is fear. Ye talk o' respect because o' how we look, boy, but humans feared me kind a thousand years ago and many still fear us today. Yer not the only one to have lost someone ye care about, as I lost me whole clan to the fear and hatred of humans; where we numbered in dozens, my clan was destroyed to but a few and it's taken us years to rebuild even the slightest. While it gives me old heart grand hope to know there're other clans surviving across the world, it's but a small consolation because me kind still lingers on the brink of extinction."

Something seemed to change in AJ's expression as he listened to what Hudson said, and Talon continued,

"I've also heard your kind of sob story before from plenty of others down here, but I've also heard far worse, and that should show you you're not the only one with difficult problems down here. Nobody wants to talk about their pasts down here, so we respect that, but I notice things. Not much is known about Thug's past, but I think he was a soldier once. Meredith may be difficult sometimes, but she's a sweet old woman once you get to know her, and what you should know it's because she's had to deal with fibromyalgia most of her adult life and she lost her husband and catering business in a bombing from a protection racket by gangster Tony Dracon years ago. And while Al prefers to keep to himself, I think he was once a career man in an insurance company but then something happened to him and he wound up on the streets, and then he had to go through the tyranny of Fang, whom you think so highly of because he tried to intimidate and exploit those weaker than him down here for the same reasons you think we're so 'bad ass'. I don't know how you figured out I was a cop once, but because of my condition I almost lost everything and I became blinded by a need for revenge because I wanted to be human again. But I've made the best out a bad situation, and I'm extremely lucky to still have the support and love of my family because I almost lost them, while my wife, Maggie, isn't so lucky. Her mom came to town from Ohio a couple of years ago looking for her, and when Maggie tried to get in touch with her mother, she outright rejected her because her mom couldn't accept her daughter had been changed into a different species and only saw a monster. So, you see, kid, we know it's a shitty world out there, but that's no excuse to be like that yourself when you know you are capable of being better yourself."

AJ's posture and expression seemed to soften a bit more as he listened to what Talon and Hudson told him, letting it sink in a bit as he thought about it for a moment or two, yet he still found it a bit hard to believe as he eyed Xanatos and asked with a low but skeptical voice,

"And what about you, rich man? What's your bit in all this? I doubt you ever had a crap load of problems in your life and were born with a silver spoon in your mouth."

"Hardly," Xanatos scoffed a bit, "More like on a fishing boat. But, yes, you could say I then had it easy after I acquired a rare coin that was worth thousands, from there I built my business from the ground up and I did a lot of questionable things to get where I am today. Unfortunately, a lot of my actions involved much of the ugliness we're talking about, much of it involving Talon and Hudson here. But my story is one for another time, because I'm now doing what I can to redeem those past mistakes and be better than I was before. In fact, it's one of the reasons I'm here, to redeem a past mistake I may have made to your mother."

AJ's eyes narrowed a bit at the mention of his mother as Xanatos pulled a file folder from the inside of his coat, the same one Hacker presented to him that same morning.

"Why?" AJ huffed doubtfully, "She's dead, what would you know about her or owe to her, anyway?"

"You mentioned you were from here last night," Xanatos explained, an expression of remorse seemed to come to his face a bit, "So, I had some sources do some checking on you after Talon told me what he knew of you, AJ, and it seems I have more to amend for than even I thought."

"I'm sorry about what happened to your mother," Chavez finally spoke up with authority and compassion, "But what about your father?"

"Pttf," AJ scoffed again, "What about the bastard? Clearly he never cared about us because he was never around. I asked once, but she never wanted to talk about him. She only said she hoped he'd come back one day, but he never did. She also said he was supposed to be some rich and famous guy, but I now see she was dreaming, saying something nice to keep her kid happy. He's probably dead, anyway, at least to me he is."

"What was her name?" Xanatos asked.

"I hardly remember anymore," AJ said with some sadness and growing frustration, "Nancy, I think. But I also weirdly remember she went by the name Cinnamon Swirl. Why are you asking me this crap, anyway?"

"So, she was an exotic dancer?" Xanatos asked.

"Yeah," AJ huffed, "Barely made enough money to feed herself, much less her own kid."

Xanatos opened the folder and handed it to Chavez as she read something that looked like a birth certificate, among other pieces of paper AJ didn't know or maybe didn't want to know what they were for.

"'Aaron Joel Henderson,'" she read, "'Mother: Nancy Carly Henderson, aka Cinnamon Swirl; Father: only known as David X.'"

Talon and Hudson gave raised brows at this, while Chavez only looked professional and Xanatos gave a patient look to AJ as he went wide eyed with confusion.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked with shock he tried to hold back as he looked at Xanatos.

"It means _I_ could be your father," he simply said low.

AJ just looked around at the small group, not really believing what he was being told as he scoffed,

"No way, there could be a lot of douches with a similar name."

Xanatos gave a deep sigh as he began to explain, "I vaguely remember a beautiful exotic dancer from my younger days. After I made one of my first millions I would go out and party all night, and I was more interested in indulging myself in the pleasures of the good life before I became more disciplined. Among them was surrounding myself with beautiful women, but the flings never really went beyond sexy chasing and stolen kisses. But there was something different and alluring about Cinnamon Swirl at the time, or maybe we both just got too drunk to know any better and gave in to our passions.

"Some weeks later she tried to contact me about something, but being the brash and selfish young fool I was I just brushed her off. I even figured at the time if she was pregnant, I thought she would've gotten an abortion or gave up the baby at birth for adoption, and that was the end of my problems. But I see now I was wrong."

Xanatos could see the growing hot anger on AJ's face, and honestly he couldn't blame the young man as he said with patience,

"I don't blame you for how you might be feeling now, AJ, as I have no excuse other than I was young and stupid at the time. But I want to do all I can to amend for it, just as I'm amending it to Talon and others down here, as well as to many others in this city."

AJ just looked at Xanatos hard, then to Chavez as she just gave a look of blank certainty as something seemed to click in AJ's mind.

He then looked back at Xanatos as he asked low, "My bail?"

Xanatos just gave a small nod.

AJ just huffed again as he said, "So, what? You just expect me to start calling you 'dad' now? Be all happy like butterflies and rainbows that you're here and we're goin' to be one big happy family? Not gonna happen, rich man, 'cause it hardly proves anything."

"I understand," Xanatos sighed, "And if you want irrefutable proof, we can have our DNA tested for a match; I'll get Dr. Goldblum to begin work right away."

"As much as I'd like to see that," Talon spoke up, "I think it might not be all that necessary because I do see a strong family resemblance, now that I think about it. You did remind me of Xanatos too much at times, kid, the arrogance and over confidence with your amorality. But I now see it in the shape of your chin, around the eyes, and the color of your hair."

"But I think you have your mother's eyes," Xanatos said with a small smile, "A lovely shade of honey amber, so unique."

After a bit of a rather awkward minute of silence, AJ just gave a sigh as he asked with a bit of resentment, "So, what's suppose to happen now? Wasn't there talk about some offer?"

"Yes," Chavez said, "But it's more of a laid out plan of what's going to happen from now on. With your experience and what you know about the Dracon syndicate and Radar's underworld operations, we want you to testify."

"What?" AJ gasped, "No way! You have any idea what those bastards would do to me if I snitched?! I'm no rat!"

"Yes, I'm well aware of the fear they command on the streets," Chavez said, "Especially with this gang war I'm sure you must be aware of, Mr. Henderson. But for the police to really do their job right, we need the help of the people we're supposed to protect. Considering your own experience with police, I'm not surprised about how your perception of us is colored, but that will have to change if we can end the gang war and shut down more organized crime syndicates."

AJ remained silent as he listened and waited for Chavez or somebody to continue.

"Testify and I'll place you into the Witness Protection Program, and the Labyrinth will be your safe house for the time you're on it. But as there's a lot unorthodox elements in your situation, I've also had to do unorthodox methods, as you're also going to be on strict parole as well with Derek, or rather Talon here as your parole officer."

AJ could only be bewildered by this, unsure if this was a good thing or some kind of trick.

"Or?" he just asked with skepticism.

"Or you face sentencing for your crimes, including the attempted robbery last night as an accomplice in the gang," Chavez said with finality as there was no arguing with it.

"Think about it, kid," Talon said with confidence, "Down here you'll be protected from crazy criminals who want to do you in, and you'll be helping the police bring them to justice. On top of that you'll have a safe place to live off of the streets with three square meals a day. But you will have to live by the rules down here, and you'll have to give up your thieving ways because there's no place for them down here. We look out for each other down here, so if you can find your place here we'll be looking out for you, too. Plus, now that you've found your long lost father and he's rich and powerful with connections and resources, think of those perks."

AJ just gave a resentful look for some long moments as he thought about what he was just told. It all just sounded like the same crap of keeping him down and confined for the rest of his life. Yet, as he thought about how he stayed here before he had to do some damn community service and how it wasn't so bad and he wanted to feel that same sense of belonging.

This was a lot to take in, a lot to think about.

"I'll have to think about some of it," AJ said, "But I'll take being here over the slammer now any day of the week, or waiting for Radar to shoot my brains out." But he gave Xanatos a hard look as he said to him, "But, I don't need anything from you, rich man. I know you're married to a hot TV chick and have another kid of your own. If you ever expect me to get all sappy, don't hold your breath."

"I understand," Xanatos said with unsurprised disappointment, yet the wheels in his head were turning with well tuned lubrication.

Chavez then presented a strange device that she placed around his ankle with a soft click.

"Hey, what the hell is that?" AJ demanded.

"A scanner to know where you are at all times and to keep tabs on where you go or what you do," Talon said, "So just because you're now getting protection down here, don't expect me to go easy on you. Because of what you've done you're going to be facing harsher restrictions now until you've earned my trust. Tonight you spend one night in the brig, and tomorrow you resume community service, which is now a thousand hours. There's more, but we'll discuss them first tomorrow. We're all tired and we need sleep."

"There's one more thing," Xanatos spoke up, "I want AJ's and my relation kept between us. I don't think we need to discuss what it would mean if this got out."

Talon, Hudson, and Chavez gave nods, but AJ just scoffed again as he said, "Fine by me, I still don't believe you could be my father. Like I said, he's dead to me."

Chavez then began to lead him away and AJ was surprised to see they were being escorted by Malibu and the hot tan gargoyle chick, Delilah.

Strangely, AJ looked at Malibu with a growing look of shame as he said low, "I guess we won't be hanging out for a while, huh, green bean."

"I mad at AJ," Malibu said with a cold tone, "You do bad thing and must be punished for it. No, we no hang out like before, because you not my friend."

This actually hurt AJ, though he didn't show it, which surprised him when once he wouldn't have care. But he became surprised as Malibu said,

"But I still be your friend, and Talon say 'to have friend, be a friend', so I be your friend and maybe you be my friend again and we hang out. But no stealing."

"Hunh," AJ moaned, "That weirdly makes sense."

He then looked to Delilah and gave a smirk as he tried to give his best charm as he said, "So, after I'm done with all the community service crap, you wanna go out with me?"

"No," Delilah said with the same cold tone, which surprised AJ as he asked,

"Is it because I don't have wings?"

"No," she said again coldly, and said nothing more, making AJ actually get a chill down his spine and feel like sinking into himself.

Meanwhile, Hudson told Xanatos and Talon,

"I'll be out on patrol above the rest of the night, and I'll be expectin' to see ye back at the castle before the morn, Xanatos."

"Don't worry, I'll be there, Hudson. But first Talon and I need to discuss some things first."

Hudson gave a nod and departed as Talon asked him,

"What do you need to talk to me about now, Xanatos?"

He just gave a heavy sigh as he said, "I suppose it's more like needing to bend your ear about it for a minute, considering what we just found out about myself and AJ. It's a weird feeling, finding out about a kid I never knew I had until years later. I thought I had been the proverbial prodigal son to my father, who knew it could happen to me."

"Yeah," Talon agreed reluctantly, "And I suppose in sense I was to Captain Chavez, going to her for help when I needed it."

"We must be a strange pair," Xanatos said with a small smile as he looked in the direction Chavez had taken AJ, "And in all the years I've pursued immortality, I finally discovered it in the joys of having a child. But now…suddenly it seems appealing to resume it again as I'm feeling old now."

"Say, is that a gray hair I see?" Talon asked with teasing curiosity.

 _Pluck_

"Ow!" Xanatos cried as he grabbed and rubbed the top of his head and gave Talon a hard look of indignity, but the panther mutate just smiled smugly as he held a silver strand of hair between his fingers.

Xanatos gave his own smug smile saying he would get back at Talon for this, and Talon will be ready for whatever he brings on.

****Nightstone, Unlimited

It was later that same night, at the top of the Nightstone, Unlimited company's flagship headquarters in New York City where a strange meeting took place in the office of the current CEO.

While Thailog discussed the progress and future plans with his so-called allies and partners, Coldsteel, Darius, and Typhon, alongside Shari, a new female with wild blond hair and partially in shadow, and a disinterested Anaheim snoozing at the foot of his desk, there suddenly gave the loud crash of a door opening as Fergus ran into the spacious office nearly out of breath.

"What is it this time, Fergus?!" Thailog's deep voice boomed with demand and irritation at the sudden interruption.

"Sir, I'm so sorry to interrupt again," Fergus said timidly, "But I knew you'd want to see this first. I know I failed to get it last night, but it's a miracle now. I got it from our good friend, Brando Dracon, and he sends his regards and hopes this fulfilled his debts to you."

He handed Thailog a sealed metal container, which the burned gargoyle practically snatched it away from his human flunky.

He easily ripped it open with superior gargoyle strength, ignoring Fergus giving him a key, and took out something wrapped in a dark blue silk cloth. He unwrapped it and went wide eyed and then smiled with arrogant malice as he held the Coyote Diamond between his talons.

Admiring how it glistened and gleamed in the light, he then said to Fergus,

"Well, this is an unexpected bonus. Send a message to Mr. Dracon giving my deepest gratitude, and _some_ of his debts are repaid, but we will have need of him and his organization soon."

Fergus gave an obedient nod and quickly left.

Thailog continued to admire the majestic beauty of the priceless jewel as he said with casualty as though discussing the weather or politics,

"It is indeed quite beautiful, I see why it's considered the most valuable gem in the world. But I know it will have more practical uses for my future plans. Perhaps this is what I need for the new Coyote as its name is appropriate enough, wouldn't you agree, ladies and gentlemen?"

The others just gave looks to each other as Thailog gave a low evil laugh.

END


End file.
